Chuck Versus the Chuckless Summer: AJ
by lifeislikeaboxofbertiebotts
Summary: Season 2 AU. My installments in the Chuck versus the Chuckless Summer series cowritten with Renegade.Girl13. Told from the POV of my OC AJ, Nerd Herder & techie extraordinaire.
1. AJ

Author's Note & Disclaimer: First of all, Chuck is (unfortunately) not mine. :'( However, AJ definitely is, & Beth (who will be featured in future fanfics from this series) belongs to Renegade. Girl13, who is also my partner in writing this series & my official unofficial Beta. I'm a writer by trade, but this is the 1st fanfiction I ever wrote & definitely the 1st 1 I've ever published, so I hope you like it. But if not, that's cool too.

Oh, by the way, this is set in between episodes 2.1 & 2.2 of Chuck. But I don't think there are any spoilers.

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_I leave my house in Burbank, California to my granddaughter, in the hopes she can lay down roots of her own in its familiar halls._

I replayed the words of my Gran's last will and testament over and over in my head as I pulled my rental into the recognizable complex, sighing audibly. In the weeks since Gran's passing, I had avoided the house, but now that the rest of the family had gone back to Maine, I couldn't stay away any longer. I'd just inserted my key (the same one I'd had since I was thirteen) into the front door, when a familiar voice deterred me.

"Hello, can I help you?"

I turned, and recognition sprang to Ellie's face.

"Oh my God, AJ, is that you? I was so sorry to hear about your grandmother, how are you doing?"

She wrapped her arms around me, and I returned the hug gratefully. I hadn't seen her in eight years, yet all it took was eight seconds for her to step into the role of surrogate big sister again.

"It's good to see you El, I had no idea you were still living here! How are you? And how are Chuck and Morgan?"

"I'm great, I just got engaged actually! And Chuck is still living here too; he and Morgan are both still attached at the hip of course, working at the Buy More of all places…but what have you been up to? Last I heard you'd graduated from MIT?"

I nodded, and subconsciously made my way over to the fountain, the same fountain where I'd spent many a summer playing with the Bartowskis.

"Yeah, I got my degree and then decided to travel, and I haven't stopped since."

Before Ellie could ask me to elaborate, Chuck and Morgan came wandering into the pavilion, stopping dead at the sight of me.

"Holy crap—"

"—AJ!"

Both men stared at me as if they were seeing a ghost, and I couldn't help but laugh as I jumped to my feet.

"Hey Chuck, Morgan, long time no see."

Both gaped at me in response. Ellie gave them her patented _say Something_ glare, and Chuck finally moved forward to shake my hand, changed his mind halfway through, and pulled me into a hug instead.

Somewhat awkwardly, Morgan followed suit. I smiled, noting how familiar each of their hugs felt.

After Morgan had released me, Chuck spoke up. "I can't believe you're here. What _are_ you doing here?"

"Well, Gran actually left me her house, and I thought I'd stick around for a while. Like I was telling Ellie, I've been traveling ever since I finished school and I think it's time I take a break. Of course, that means I'd have to get a _job_…"

Morgan snickered at how I shuddered upon uttering the last word, and Chuck's face suddenly lit up, a telltale sign he'd just gotten a brilliant idea.

"Why don't you come work at the Buy More?"

"Oh boy, here we go…" Ellie groaned.

I, however, was intrigued. "What kind of job?"

"Well there's an opening in the Nerd Herd, the tech support desk. It's not much, but—"

"No, I'm sure it'll be prefect. Thanks, Chuck!"

Shaking her head, Ellie piped up. "Well, we should definitely have a welcome back party for you, that way you can meet my fiancée Devon, —"

"—who is Awesome," Morgan interjected.

"—Chuck's girlfriend, Sarah, and our neighbor, John Casey, who also works at the Buy More. Oh, and Morgan, if you want you can invite Anna?"

Morgan gave a noncommittal half-shrug in response, and I was left wondering who this Anna character was.

Luckily, Chuck was once more quick to break the silence, adding, "Oh, and Casey's getting a new roommate, so we should invite her too."

We chatted for another while, Morgan remaining unnaturally silent for most of the conversation, before Ellie departed for the super market ("Is there anything you need, AJ? I'd be happy to get it for you while I'm out.") and the boys retreated to play their latest video game ("You sure you don't want to come kick Morgan's butt at _Call of Duty_?"), leaving me to go home.

Two days later, I found myself in the passenger seat of Chuck's Nerd Herder on the way to the Buy More. Because Chuck unofficially ran the Buy More (apparently most of the employees, including the manager and assistant manger, were highly incompetent), securing me the Nerd Herd job had been effortless, and he'd brought over the necessary paperwork the previous afternoon.

"Hey, Chuck? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What are you doing working at the Buy More?"

He kept his eyes pointedly on the road. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you're a Stanford grad, aren't you a bit overqualified to be working at an electronics store?"

"Look who's talking, Miss MIT protégée."

His tone was teasing, so I stuck my tongue out at him, which made him grin.

"You know this is only a short-term gig for me, something to keep busy with while I'm in town. Seriously Chuck, what happened?"

He shrugged a bit, then casually said, "It's a comfortable job, and one of the few stable things in my life since the Stanford fiasco."

"Wait, what fiasco?"

"Ellie didn't tell you? Bryce accused me of cheating, and stole my girlfriend, so I got kicked out my last semester."

"What, no way! That son of a bitch!"

Chuck laughed a bit. "Yeah, tell me about it. But I finally finished my degree last year, and I've got a really good thing going with Sarah, so I guess I've gotten over it for the most part."

I pursed my lips. "Yet you're still at the Buy More."

He rolled his eyes. "Geez, you sound like Ellie. Baby steps, AJ, baby steps. So, how long do you think you're going to be around?"

It was my turn to shrug. "I don't know honestly, probably just a few months or something. Just long enough for me to recharge my batteries and figure out where I'm going next…oh, so I can I ask what's up with Morgan?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean how come he's suddenly all quiet? He's not usually like that, is he? Because I don't know if I can handle the shock of a mellow Morgan."

"No, he's not usually like that, I think he's still just trying to process that you're back. You know, since as far as Morgan's concerned, you're the one that got away."

I was suddenly very glad to be sitting and in the passenger's seat, as I tried to process Chuck's words. "Wait, WHAT?"

Suddenly, Chuck looked very uncomfortable. "Well, you've got to know Morgan had a huge crush on you when we were younger, right?"

"He never said anything!"

"Oh crap. He's going to murder me. Yep, I am so, so very dead. Okay, AJ, you can't say ANYTHING to him about this, alright? Please please please please?"

I loved how Chuck could still be such a kid sometimes, and despite my shock at his inadvertent revelation, I was quick to put him out of his misery. "Relax, Chuck, I won't say anything. It was a long time ago anyway, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, and you know, he's with Anna now, so we shouldn't make a big deal out of this. And I'm sure he'll get used to having you around again soon enough. Yeah, this is no big deal, no big deal at all."

We shared a slightly strained chuckle, just as Chuck pulled the Nerd Herder into the Buy More parking lot.

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Sorry if the ending's a bit abrupt, but the next 1-shot, cowritten with Renegade. Girl13, picks up just after this 1 leaves off. Review if you'd like! ~A.C.


	2. Buymoria

A/N: 1st off, the usual disclaimer. Chuck & anything/anyone recognizeable from the show don't belong to me. AJ does. & Beth belongs to Renegade. Girl13. Also, a shout-out & thank you to chuckfan56 for reviewing! Ok, so down to business, this is set in between episodes 2.1 & 2.2 of Chuck, & in terms of the Chuck versus the Chuckless Summer series, right after the 1st chapter Chuck versus the Chuckless Summer: Beth & AJ (co-written with Renegade. Girl13 & published under her account...sorry if that's confusing). A hope you enjoy it, & as always, any feedback (positive or negative) would be greatly appreciated :)

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At 8 o'clock exactly, I walked into the Buy More, my tennis shoes padding swiftly towards the Nerd Herd desk. There I was greeted by 2 familiar faces, Chuck and Morgan, and 3 unfamiliar 1s, a guy who resembled a stoned clown, a guy with a haircut that looked remarkably like "the Rachel", and an Asian girl who, judging by the way she was clinging to Morgan's neck, had to be Anna. Chuck, ever the gentleman, stepped forward to introduce me.

"Guys, this is AJ, she'll be joining the Nerd Herd now that Lester (he nodded towards the second guy) has moved on to bigger and better things. AJ, these are Jeff and Anna, our fellow Nerds, and like I said, Lester, our new assistant manager. And of course you already know Morgan."

"Nice to meet you all."

In response, Lester gave me a once-over, Jeff blatantly tried to look down my shirt, and Anna glared at me all the while wrapping her arms tighter around Morgan's collar.

"Yes, well, I've got an off-sight install, but if you need anything, call me or, you know, hide until I get back," Chuck said to me with a somewhat concerned smile.

I brushed off his fretting, saying, "No worries Chuck, if worst comes to worst, Morgan's got my back, right Morgan?"

"Yeah, um, of course," Morgan assured. At this, Anna scowled and stomped away, leaving Morgan to chase after her. I fought back a laugh, before turning once more to Chuck, who was still hovering.

"Seriously, I'll be fine. I'm overqualified for this job just like you, remember? Now shoo."

With a final nod, he left, leaving me alone with Jeff and Lester.

"So how come you're not wearing the skirt?" Lester asked as soon as Chuck was out of earshot.

I looked down at my gray dress slacks, and absentmindedly brushed away the wrinkles before coolly answering, "Chuck warned me this store was full of perverts, so I thought it prudent to wear pants."

The two guys shared a look before Lester said, "Fair enough. Carry on then," and walked off, leaving me alone with Jeff.

Jeff creeped closer. "Can I smell your hair?"

"Um, I'd rather you didn't."

"Can I smell your hand then?"

"…Sure, Jeff."

I held out my left hand, and he sniffed at it like a bloodhound memorizing a scent.

"You smell like cherry lollipops and green markers."

I pulled my hand away. "Yeah…okay then. I'm uh, I'm going to go do some work now, Jeff. Why don't you, I don't know, go see where Anna's gotten to?"

His fogged-over eyes lit up at the mention of Anna. "Okay!"

I watched him toddle off before collapsing behind the Nerd Herd desk. 5 minutes on the job, without doing any actual work, and I was already exhausted. Working at the Buy More was certainly going to be an experience.

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So now AJ's met the Buy More gang. Next chapter should be up relatively soon, by the end of the week I'd say, & will probably be longer than these 1st 2. Don't forget to check out the 2 other Chuck versus the Chuckless Summer installments, CVTCS: Beth & CVTCS: Beth & AJ!

~A.C.


	3. Shrimp, Dinosaurs, & Lara Croft

A/N: Usual disclaimers- I own AJ, LB (Renegade. Girl13) owns Beth, everything else belongs to NBC. Also, a reminder to check out the other 2 parts of the Chuck versus the Chuckless Summer series, CVTCS: Beth & CVTCS: Beth & AJ, published by Renegade. Girl13. Thanks to jinxed97 & chuckfan56 for reviewing btw, much obliged. In response to the latter's comment, you'll be hearing a little more about their pasts together in this chapter, & plenty more in the future, never fear! :)

So, this is set just a few days after the last chapter, let's say a day before the get-together Ellie's planning in "AJ", which is also mentioned in the 1st chapter of CVTCS: Beth & AJ. (The get-together itself'll actually be covered in CVTCS: Beth, just so you know.) No spoilers that I can think of.

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"Hey, Morgan?" I said, coming up next to him as he set out merchandise in the Buy More.

"Yeah, AJ?"

"I've had enough."

"I don't follow." He had yet to take his eyes off of his work, not making any eye contact.

I crossed my arms. "Why won't you talk to me, Morgan?"

"I'm talking to you right now," he answered distractedly.

"No, you're not, you're deflecting! Ever since I came back to Burbank you've been all awkward and quiet around me, and I don't like it! So tonight you're coming over to my house to eat sizzling shrimp, watch Jurassic Park, and play the new multi-player Lara Croft game, end of story."

"But—"

I shook my head. "No buts. You've been one of my best friends since I was 9, and just because we haven't seen each other in a while, it doesn't mean we're suddenly strangers. So no excuses, I'll expect you there at 7 sharp."

5 minutes before 7, I was just finishing ordering the shrimp when I heard the distinct ringing of the door bell. Pulling open the front door, I was surprised to find Morgan wearing a nice pair of fitted jeans, and a blazer over his Darth Vader t-shirt.

"Hey Morgan, come on in! Go ahead and take a seat on couch, I'll be right there."

He did as he was told, and a moment later I took a seat next to him with a grape soda in 1 hand and coke in the other.

"You remembered," he said as I handed him his drink, surprise evident in his voice.

"Are you kidding me? Of course I remembered, you've been addicted to the stuff since you were 12. So, the shrimp will be here in half an hour, so how about we start the movie in the meantime?"

"Yeah, sure."

I fiddled around with the remote control for a bit until the movie started, then threw it aside. For a few minutes we watched in silence, until…

"AJ, what are we doing?"

"What do you think we're doing, Morgan? We're watching a movie."

"…It is a really good movie."

"Yes, it is. We went to see it in the movie theater with Chuck and Ellie and Mr. Bartowski, remember?"

"Yeah, Ellie kept screaming when the raptors came on screen."

I laughed. "That was you, Morgan."

"Oh, heh."

We fell into a comfortable quiet, much more natural than before, until the shrimp arrived.

"Look out you stupid kids, look out!" I screamed at the screen.

"Grant should've never left the kids on their own, honestly," Morgan said.

"Yeah well Hammond should've never invited them in the first place…bloody hell!"

"Bloody hell?" Morgan grinned. "What are you, British now?"

I hit him in the shoulder. "Oh, shut up, Morgan, you pick up things when you travel."

"You know, you still haven't told me where all you went on your grand world adventure."

"Well that's not my fault now, is it? You're the one who was avoiding me!"

I looked over from the movie, to see Morgan nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. It's just, I never expected to see you again, and then I was so happy when you showed up, but I couldn't figure out how to express it, so I didn't say anything, and everything got awkward and messed up and—"

I cut him off by pressing a single finger to his lips.

"Forget it, Morgan, it's fine. I'm just glad we've finally moved past that."

He nodded. "Me too."

"Aww, c'mon AJ, that's not even fair!" Morgan said.

"What, I let you kill that one guy!"

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, while you went off and killed the other 4! How'd you get so good anyway?"

"Just because I was constantly on the move doesn't mean I didn't keep in practice," I said. "That's what handhelds are for, Morgan."

He paused the game, and threw down his remote control. I followed suit.

"Fine, fine. So should we call it a night?"

"I suppose we'd better, otherwise we're going to fall asleep during work tomorrow."

"Pfft, like that'd be a first at the Buy More."

I grinned, then motioned towards the stairwell.

"Well the guest room is the first door on the left, I left out an extra toothbrush & toothpaste for you on the bed."

Morgan gulped visibly.

"Wait, you want me to stay?"

I gave him my best Ellie-glare.

"You're crazier than I remember if you think I'm going to let you bike home at this hour. So yes, I want you to stay. Just lock your door before you go to bed, I'd rather not have you sleepwalking through the whole house in the buff."

"…Ok."

I smiled, and raced him up the stairs. Standing at the door to my room, I gave him a final wave.

"Well, goodnight Morgan."

"Goodnight, AJ."

We walked into our respective rooms and closed the doors behind us.

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I hope you liked this chapter; any feedback would be awesome. (Like Captain Awesome awesome.) Not sure when the next chapter'll be up, but maybe early next week? Alright, here's hoping you have a Chucktastic weekend! ~A.C.


	4. Forward to the Past

A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the delay, final papers are murder. But now that papers are done with, so I'm back on track. As usual, I own AJ, LB (Renegade. Girl13) owns Beth, everything else belongs to NBC. Thanks to Assassins Stole My Pants & chuckfan56 for reviewing! To answer the latter's question, nothing good lol. ;) Anyway, this is set right before Dinner at the Bartowskis (the next chapter in LB's story), & a day after Shrimps, Dinosaurs, & Lara Croft. No spoilers.

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It had been five days since I'd moved into Gran's place, and once more I found sitting on the edge of the courtyard fountain. I was running my fingers along the fountain's base, trying to find a certain remnant of my childhood, when I spotted Chuck and Morgan getting back from work.

"Hey guys."

"Hey, what are you doing?" Chuck asked, taking a seat to my left while Morgan took a seat to my right.

"I'm looking for…aha! Yup, it's still here, check it out." I traced the messily carved initials with my fingers, then moved my hand aside so Morgan and Chuck could take a closer look.

"Whoa, I'd totally forgotten about this!" Morgan said.

"Forgotten about what?"

We looked up at Ellie, who had exited Casa Bartowski.

Chuck motioned her over. "Come here, sis, look at what AJ found."

"Oh wow, are those our initials?" Ellie asked, leaning over me to get a better look.

"You better believe it," I said. "Do you remember when we first carved them?"

"I think it was nineteen-ninety…two," Ellie said.

"Yeah, it had been raining for a week," Morgan added.

"And on the first day of sunshine, we were so happy, even though we couldn't do much because everything was practically flooded," Chuck continued.

"So we just sat around the fountain and ended up carving our initials into it," I finished.

We all laughed. None of us would have guessed we'd still find ourselves around the fountain more than a decade and a half later.

"Well, I need to get to the store," Ellie said after a moment. "I'll see you at dinner, right?" She gave Chuck a kiss on the cheek, me a hug, and Morgan an awkward wave, then left.

"So, who's up for some video games until then?" Morgan asked after a moment.

Chuck and I nodded our agreement, and we headed into Casa Bartowski and Chuck's room.

"Dude, are you sure it isn't still the '90s? Your room hasn't changed a bit," I said as I looked around at the familiar _Tron_ and _Dune_ posters.

Chuck rolled his eyes. "Not true; I've definitely upgraded my gaming systems and my TV since then."

I smirked. "X-Box 360, Playstation 3, and Wii; what is it your dad used to say? Aces, Charles."

Chuck's smile widened. "Thanks, AJ. Morgan was telling me you just got a PS3?"

I nodded. "Yup. The employee discount at the Buy More is definitely coming in handy. I'm trying to decide whether to get a Wii or an X-Box 360 next."

"Well, how about you try them both out?" Chuck said, motioning to the systems. The three of settled down to play _Halo 3_ on the X-Box 360, with Morgan and Chuck talking me through the basics until I got the hang of it.

"Man, I missed you guys," I said after a while, never taking my eyes off of the screen.

"We missed you too," Morgan said.

"Yeah," Chuck added, "your grandmother used to tell Ellie and me about your adventures sometimes, you know. I'll admit, I'm jealous of all the places you've been."

"I wish you'd come with me, both of you. It's been a great experience, but it did get lonely sometimes."

"I don't know how you made it five years on your own," Chuck said.

Morgan nodded his agreement. "That's crazy!"

"Well, it's not like I was alone _all_ the time," I said, somewhat defensive.

"Don't tell me you found yourself a man while you were traveling?" Chuck teased.

As kids, he'd taken on the role of my surrogate big brother and as a result I recognized there was a certain degree of protectiveness layered underneath his lighthearted questioning. So it was with careful casualness that I shrugged and said, "A few, nothing serious though. But also Gran used to fly out and meet me wherever I was for my birthday and Christmas every year…I still can't believe she's gone."

The guys paused the game, and Morgan wrapped an arm around my shoulder in a friendly hug.

"Well, I know it's not the same, but you can spend Christmas with us this year," Chuck said. "I'm sure Ellie wouldn't mind."

"Yeah, it'd be great," Morgan added.

"Thanks guys, I might just take you up on that." I leaned back, looking between the two of them. "You know, I think it's great after all these years we can still do this, just sit around and play video games."

"I don't think it'll ever get old," Morgan agreed.

We continued to play for a while longer, until the front door opening signaled the arrival of Captain Awesome, who I had yet to meet. The guys and I headed out into the living room to greet him, and Chuck took the liberty of making introductions.

"Devon, this is AJ, a childhood friend of ours and our new neighbor. AJ, this is Devon, Ellie's fiancé."

Devon shook my hand. "Awesome to meet you."

"Yeah, great to meet you, too. You're a lucky man; Ellie's a great girl."

He nodded, a dreamy look in his eye at the mention of Ellie. "Oh, I know. She's so awesome."

Suddenly, his nickname was starting to make a lot of sense to me.

"So did you know Ellie as a kid too?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, she's the closest thing I've ever had to a big sister."

"Awesome, I'd love to hear some stories from back in the day."

"Hey now," Chuck interrupted, "no embarrassing stories without first clearing them with me or El."

Pretending not to hear him, I said to Devon, "We'll talk later; I can tell you about Ellie as a kid and you can tell me about living the Bartowskis."

Before we could further conspire, Chuck pulled me back to his room.

"So what do you think?" Morgan asked.

"Of Devon? He seems really—"

"—Awesome," Chuck and Morgan finished in chorus.

I laughed and nodded.

We played some more video games (this time on the Wii) until Ellie got home. She came up to the open door of Chuck's room, and grinned at the sight of us all engrossed in our game.

"What're you smiling at, El?" I asked.

"The three of you; it's like nothing's changed," she said, shaking her head in amazement.

"Crazy, isn't it?" I said. "Do you need some help with dinner?"

"That'd be great."

Leaving the guys to keep playing, I followed Ellie out into the kitchen.

"So did you meet Devon yet?" Ellie asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, he seems really wonderful. I'm so happy for the two of you."

"Thanks you, that means a lot to me. Listen, I know you've only just gotten back, but would you mind being one of my bridesmaids? I don't really have many close female friends, and I've always thought of you as family—"

I cut her off, pulling her into a tight hug. "It'd be an honor, Ellie."

She hugged me back. "It really is great to have you back."

"I have to admit, it's really nice to be back."

We fell into a comfortable silence as I chopped the vegetables for the guacamole and Ellie prepared made the tomato soup. After a few minutes, Ellie asked, "So have you met Sarah yet?"

I shook my head. "No, she's been off-duty every time I've stopped by the Orange Orange. From what Beth and Morgan have told me though, it seems like she's been really good for Chuck. I'm glad he's finally gotten over Jill."

"She is. Beth is John's new roommate, right?"

"Yup, she's really sweet; I don't know how she can live with that man."

"What do you mean?"

"It's just that Casey seems so…gruff. And Beth's really lively and funny. They're practically polar opposites."

Ellie shrugged. "Well, you know what they say, opposites attract."

"True."

The doorbell rang, and, having finished making the guacamole, I volunteered to get the door. There stood a leggy blonde who could only be Sarah.

"Hi, I'm AJ," I said in greeting.

Recognition sprang to her face as she shook my hand. "I'm Chuck's girlfriend Sarah, nice to meet you."

"Well come on in, Ellie and I are just finishing up dinner."

She followed me in, greeting Ellie warmly before going to find Chuck. After a bit she came back to help us set the table.

"So Sarah, Chuck tells me you're multilingual?"

If she was surprised, Sarah didn't show it. "Yeah, I know some Polish, Russian and German."

"Wow, that's great! I'm more partial to the romantic languages myself, though I did pick up some German during my travels."

"Oh, do you travel a lot?" Sarah asked.

I grinned. "You could say that; I spent the last five years wandering the earth."

"Wow, that must've been interesting."

Nodding, I said, "Yeah, it was. Have you done any traveling?"

"A little."

Before I could further inquire, the doorbell rang again. This time Ellie got the door, and the three guys emerged from their respective rooms. Beth and Casey came in, and while Chuck introduced Beth to everyone, I approached Casey.

"Hey, I don't think we've been formally introduced. I'm AJ."

He grunted, and begrudgingly said, "Casey."

Undeterred, I continued, "It's nice to meet you. I've seen you around the Buy More; you work in the appliances department, right?"

He scowled. Okay, apparently that was a sensitive subject. I tried again, with similar results, and was starting to get frustrated when Chuck swung in and asked me to help him get the drinks.

"Don't mind him; Casey's like that with everybody," he said, answering my unspoken question.

"Right. It's an interesting crowd you've assembled here, Chuck."

"Tell me about it."

Shaking my head with a smile, I helped him get the drinks.

* * *

Sorry if this chapter was a bit slow, I promise things'll pick up now that AJ's met everybody. Don't forget to check out the rest of the Chuck versus the Chuckless Summer series, published by Renegade. Girl13. Not sure which drabble I'm posting next, but I promise a quicker turnaround on it. Review if you get the chance! As always, thanks for reading! ~A.C.


	5. The Herder & the Chimera

A/N: So, apologies for the lack of posts recently; final papers & exams were killer. But now I'm home for the holidays & writing like crazy, so today I'm gonna follow LB's post up with 2 of my own, & promises that our next co-op (which will be holiday-themed) will hopefully be up soon too. As always, I own AJ, LB (Renegade. Girl13) owns Beth, everything else belongs to NBC. No major spoilers that I can think of. Also, as for when this chapter is set, the 1st part takes place shortly after LB's Dinner at the Bartowskis & the 2nd part sometime before episode 2.10. Oh, also, because I notice scene breaks in previous chapters haven't saved, I'll be using -Chuck Me- as a page breaker from now on. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

Part 1

"Hey, Big Mike, can I talk to you for a second?"

The big guy looked up from his desk, surprised. We hadn't ever really talked in the two weeks since I'd started working at the Buy More.

"Abbott, right? Bartowski's new right-hand woman. What can I do for you?"

I nodded. "I was wondering is I could borrow a company car for the night? I usually carpool with Chuck, but he got caught up with an off-site install, so I'm kind of stranded."

"Oh sure. Let me just find the keys."

While he rummaged through his desk, I took the opportunity to glance around the room, noting the marlin with the taped up nose on the back wall and the stack of empty donut boxes in the corner.

"So tell me," he said as he continued searching, "how are you liking the Buy More so far?"

"It's honestly a lot more fun that I thought it'd be," I said. "Thanks for letting me work here on such short notice."

"I should be the one thanking you. You really know how to handle those fools, Jeff and Lester."

I grinned. Dealing with Jeff and Lester was easy enough; all it took was a combination of bribery, witty comebacks, and death glares.

Finally, Big Mike found the keys and tossed them across his desk to me. "All yours," he said.

"Thanks again, I'll bring them back to you bright and early tomorrow."

He shook his head. "You misunderstand me, Abbott. Keep the car as long as you want."

"What? Are you sure?"

He nodded. "Consider it compensation for helping to keep those crazies under control."

"Well thanks," I said, shaking his hand. "See you tomorrow, boss."

My Nerd Herder looked exactly like Chuck's, with the same paint job and all. Considering I'd never had a car of my own, but had driven everything from a Mini to a bus during my travels, I found the Nerd Herder made for a surprisingly good drive. I sped back to the apartment with the windows rolled down, glad that now I actually wouldn't have to worry about renting a car or carpooling all the time for the duration of my Burbank stay.

Part 2

Two and a half months. "A while" and "short-term" had turned into two and half months, and still I felt no inclination to return to my travels. Working at the Buy More was surprisingly entertaining, and living in Gran's old house was comfortable. Not to mention, I'd reconnected with my old childhood friends and made new friends, people who I'd already made plans to spend the holiday season with and who genuinely seemed to like having me around.

It was nice. And I wasn't quite ready to leave.

"AJ, you really need a car of your own," Beth said.

I was at the Orange Orange for a breakfast, enjoying the weekly special of Rapid Raspberry. "I have a car."

"The Nerd Herder is a company car."

"So?"

"So it's white and red and clearly labeled 'Nerd Herd'. How are you ever going to land a date driving that clown car?"

"Who says I'm trying to land a date?"

"The increasingly short skirt and spit-fire boots you're wearing," Beth said with a grin.

I blushed. Busted. "Okay, fine, let's pretend you're right. What kind of car should I get then?"

Beth shrugged. "I'm a truck girl myself, but if you want I can ask John for you. He seems like he'd be pretty knowledgeable about cars."

Shaking my head, I said, "Thanks but no thanks. No offense, but your roommate and I don't exactly see eye to eye."

"Are you still holding a grudge about him calling a certain politician a socialist hippie?"

"Just because he's bitter the Oldest Man Alive and Barbie lost the White House doesn't mean I should have to put up with his snarkiness."

Beth rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Well, what about Awesome then?"

"What about him?"

"He seems like he'd know something about cars."

The only other guys and I knew were Chuck and Morgan— Chuck drove the same car I did and Morgan's sole means of transportation was a bike. Yep, the Captain was definitely my best bet.

-Chuck Me-

"Hey, Ellie, is Awesome home?"

She gave me a strange look, but moved aside so I could enter Casa Bartowski. "Let me go get him."

A few moments later, she returned with her husband to be, who said greeted me with a hug and said, "Hey, AJ, what's up?"

"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind going car shopping with me?" I asked.

"No problem, that'd be awesome," he said.

I'd expected as much, but I smiled and thanked him nonetheless. It was Ellie's reaction that surprised me.

"Oh AJ, I'm so glad you've decided to stay! Even though you really should think about working at somewhere other than the Buy More."

"What are you talking about, Ellie?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"You're _buying_ a car; that means you must be planning on staying in Burbank long-term, right?"

Huh. Is that what that meant? I shrugged. "I don't know, Ellie, I think I'm just tired of driving a Herder."

She shook her head. "Then you'd just rent a car."

"Well, let's just say I'm keeping my options open, okay?" I turned back to Devon. "So when are you free to go to the dealership?"

"I've got the evening shift tomorrow, so we could go in the morning?"

"Perfect."

-Chuck Me-

"How about this one?" Devon said, pointing to a black Hummer.

I wrinkled my nose. "It looks like a box."

He pointed to another car, this time a white Honda.

"It's white."

"So?"

"So white cars always look dirty. Next."

We'd been searching for an hour already, yet I continued to be unimpressed by any of the cars we'd seen. At this rate, I'd be driving the Herder forever.

"Look at that one."

I followed Awesome's line of sight and immediately took interest. He was pointing at 2005 Jeep Wrangler, forest green with a khaki soft cover. It was gorgeous.

"Devon, I think you've found the one!"

"Awesome."

"Now she just needs a name."

If Awesome thought it was weird I felt compelled to name my car, he didn't say anything about it. I walked around my new beauty, trying to think of a good name for her.

"How about…Chimera?" I said finally. "After the Greek creature."

"That's an awesome name," Devon agreed.

"Then it's settled."

Chimera had been costly, but worth every penny, so that it was with a certain amount of pride that I pulled up to the apartments. Devon had gone straight to work from the dealership, so I took his usual parking spot for the time being.

-Chuck Me-

"Oh, you finally got a car!"

I turned, grinning at Beth, though my smile drooped slightly when I noticed Casey was with her. "Yup, just bought her."

"Well she's nice. What'd you name her?"

"Chimera."

"Your Jeep's an impossible fantasy, Abbott?" Casey asked.

I rolled my eyes. "No, it's a fire-breathing monster, Casey. Much like me."

"Now children, behave," Beth said with a smile. "We'll see you later, AJ."

With a nod, I watched them get into Beth's truck. But just before he got into the passenger's seat, I noticed Casey give Chimera an appreciate glance. Ha! Even he liked my Jeep.

* * *

So now AJ's established she might be sticking around a bit longer than she'd 1st planned. Yay! Also, the timeline's moving along, which is good, because I've got loads of drabbles from later seasons already written :) So, before you go on to the next chapter, you know what you should do? Yup, that's right, review! Pretty please? ~A.C.


	6. AJ & the DeMorgan

A/N: Okay, well, as promised the 2nd post of the day. This is a short & funny one I wrote quite a while ago, so I hope you like it. Again, a reminder, I own AJ, LB (Renegade. Girl13) owns Beth, everything else belongs to NBC. This is set during episode 2.10 Chuck versus the DeLorean, so spoilers for that. Now onto the story!

* * *

"Oh Morgan, tell me you didn't."

"C'mon, AJ, you of all people should appreciate the beauty of it."

"It only goes 22 miles an hour! You can probably bike faster than that!"

"Yeah, but, it's the DeMorgan. I mean, how epic is that?"

I stare at the barely functioning car before me, then turned to Morgan, then back to the car.

"Anna and Awesome are going to kill you."

It was with a certain twisted satisfaction that I watched all of the color drain out of Morgan's face.

"Oh God. I didn't think of that."

"Glad you're finally realizing the gravity of the situation. What are you going to do?"

"What can I do? The sale was final!"

"Then crikey, you are so royally screwed."

-Chuck Me-

"Okay, AJ, I'm begging you please, let me in!"

I opened my front door to find Morgan, "disguised" in a black hoodie, trying to hide on my porch. The moment he heard the creak of the door, he ran inside, and slammed it shut again behind him.

"Morgan, what in the name of Quetzalcoatl happened?"

"I'll tell you what happened! Awesome came into the Buy More and threatened to pluck me from head to toe if I don't pay him back! And Anna told him to start with the groin!"

I bit back the urge to laugh, and instead winced sympathetically.

"Well you're welcome to hide out here for now, but you're going to have to face them eventually. Or, you know, you and Anna could always live in the DeMorgan."

"Now there's an idea!"

At this point, what little composure I'd managed to maintain broke, and I collapsed into fits of giggles.

"No, Morgan, it's not. Now I've to go, it's girls' night and I promised to help Ellie with dinner. I'll be back in a few hours. There should be some leftovers in the fridge and you know where all the movies and videogames are."

"Okay, thanks, have fun with the girls!"

"Thanks. Oh, and Morgan?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't even think about trying to spy on us."

-Chuck Me-

"Mor-gan, I'm ho-ome!"

I laughed a bit to myself at the idea of coming home to Morgan, but grew concerned when he didn't answer.

"Morgan?"

I ventured further into my house, a bit cautious, relaxing when I found Morgan passed out on my couch, an empty pizza box balanced on his stomach and the original _King Kong_ playing on the TV. Typical Morgan, dealing with his nerves by taking an impromptu nap.

"Hey, Morgan, wake up."

I shook his shoulder slightly, and he responded by snoring loudly.

"I'm not carrying you up the stairs, so Wake Up!"

He snored again. Knowing I was defeated, I carefully removed the pizza box and pulled a blanket out of the linen's closet to cover him with.

-Chuck Me-

"AJ, please don't make me go!"

"Stop being such a baby and get in the car. We're going to work, end of discussion."

With a combination of shoving and pleading, I finally got Morgan in the Nerd Herder. We made a brief stop at his mom's house (where I shared a very awkward cup of coffee with Big Mike) before I pulled up at the Buy More.

"Okay, out you go, Morgan."

"Wait, you're not coming with me?"

"No, I have a yogurt waiting for me at the Orange Orange and then I have to go to do an off-site install. But don't worry, I'll see you later."

I drove away before he could further protest, shaking my head all the while. Maybe if he lived through the day, we could go for a drive in the DeMorgan. After all, it _was _the car from _Back to the Future_.

* * *

Ah, I love that episode. And I love writing AJ & Morgan interactions. (Can you tell?) So, in case I don't get a chance to post again soon (though I hope I do), Merry Christmas! Also, you know what makes a good Christmas present? Reviews! ~A.C.


	7. AJ versus the GreenEyed Monster, Part 1

Happy 2011 everybody! Let me start off by saying I still own AJ (& Javier), LB (Renegade. Girl13) still owns Beth, everything else still belongs to NBC & thanking chuckfan56 for the review. So, this is actually Part 1 of a longer drabble; because of this, expect daily updates for the next few days. No major spoilers, & this is set a little while after last chapter, though definitely still before Chuck versus the Santa Claus. Don't forget to keep reading Renegade. Girl13's Chuck versus the Chuckless Summer: Beth & look for a new post on our co-op Chuck versus the Chuckless Summer: Beth & AJ (also posted under Renegade. Girl13's account) coming soon.

Anywho, without further ado, enjoy!

* * *

In my half a decade of being a nomad, I'd had more than my fair share of casual flings. There had been Marcos in Italy and Sefu in Kenya, among about a dozen others. But easily, my longest relationship over those years was with Javier, a Colombian who joined me in my travels throughout South America for seven months before I, er, skipped out on him. Which is why I damn near died from the shock when he walked into my Buy More and right up to my desk.

"Hello, I was wondering if you could help me fix my computer? I cannot get the internet to work." Apparently, he didn't recognize me.

"Javi? Is that you?"

He tilted his head to the left. "Do I know you?"

"It's me, Javier. Ava."

The laptop he'd been holding hit the floor with a resounding _thunk_.

"_Ava_? What are you doing here?"

I took a deep breath, then said, "I work here."

"You're not traveling anymore? But I thought—"

Before he could finish telling me exactly what he thought, Chuck, coming back from an offsite install, came over. "Hey, AJ, who's your friend?"

"Chuck, this is Javier. We met and did some traveling together a few years ago. Javier, this Chuck, an old friend and new neighbor."

As the two men shook hands, Javier asked, "The Chuck? One of your summer friends?"

I nodded, though I couldn't believe he remembered that. I'd mentioned Morgan and the Bartowskis a handful of times while Javier and I were together, but that'd been more than four years ago. Honestly, I couldn't remember anything he'd ever told me about his family and friends.

"Well it's great to meet you," Chuck said as he released Javier's hand. "You should come have a few drinks with us; a whole bunch of us from work are going after closing time." To me, he added, "Sarah and Beth are coming too, so you really have no excuse not to come."

Except for the fact that I don't want to spend my night with my ex, my crush, my crush's girlfriend, and the Buy Morons. No, no reason at all. Of course, I couldn't say that, so instead I turned to Javier, and said, "It could be fun."

He shrugged. "Why not?" Then he picked up his laptop from the floor and handed it over to me. "Can you fix this then?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. I'll have it for you this afternoon."

"Excellent. See you later then." With a wave, he left, leaving me alone with Chuck.

The moment he was past the sliding doors, I rounded on Chuck. "Now you've done it!"

Chuck backed away, his hands in the air. "What? It's not often we get to meet any of your friends from your years away."

"He's not my friend," I snapped. "He's my ex-boyfriend!"

"Oh," Chuck said.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh indeed."

"So what happened?" Chuck asked.

"I, um, left Equador without him."

"On purpose?"

I averted my eyes and nodded. Then I elaborated, "He wanted me to go back to Colombia with him. I was ready to move on to Europe."

"Oh," Chuck said again.

I laughed. "So, store closes in an hour, we better get to work on Javier's laptop."

"Oh, right. Let's get to it then."

The laptop was fixed within two minutes (idiot just needed to turn on the Wi-Fi switch), and Chuck still feeling a bit guilty about inviting my ex to hang out with us Chuck offered to man the desk, so I ended up heading over to the Orange Orange. As usual, Sarah and Beth were in the mysterious backroom when I arrived, so that by the time they showed up I was happily eating a bowl of Yesteryear Yantok yogurt, which was particularly bitter but still tasty.

"AJ, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at work?" Beth asked, taking a seat next to me.

"Yeah, it's barely four," Sarah added, also taking a seat at my usual table.

I shrugged, hurriedly swallowing my mouthful of yogurt. "My ex-boyfriend showed up. Chuck invited him to have drinks with us tonight. I needed some yogurt after that."

"Ex-boyfriend?" they both asked.

In between mouthfuls of yogurt, I told them what I'd told Chuck and, since they had yet to meet him, briefly described Javier's green eyes and toothy smile and athletic build.

"Typical Chuck, inviting him to have drinks with us," Sarah said affectionately.

Nodding in agreement, Beth added, "Well I can't wait to meet this Javier guy. He sounds…interesting."

"Interesting? I walked out on the guy! Tonight's going to be so awkward."

"Do you regret it?" Sarah asked. "Walking out on him?"

I shook my head. "No. I mean, he was a good guy, but I wasn't willing to give up my adventuring for him. After I left him, I spent the next four years traveling Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. I wouldn't give up that experience for anything."

"But what if this is a second chance for the pair of you? You have to admit, wayward spirits reunited by true love has a nice ring to it," Beth said.

"So does polar opposite roommates who realize they complete each other and fall in love," I shot back, sticking my tongue out at my friend. Hearing Sarah laugh, I added, "Not to mention a classic retelling of the smart and pretty girl and the handsome and nerdy guy thrown into each other's arms by fate."

"Anyway, you should give him another chance," Beth said.

Sarah nodded her agreement.

I brushed the both of them off. "C'mon you guys, as if he's still interested in me. What part of 'I walked out on him and flew to another continent' don't you get?"

"He's definitely still interested," Beth said firmly. "Otherwise why would he agree to come to spend time with you?"

"He didn't even recognize me," I pointed out.

"To be fair, he wasn't expecting to see you and you probably look really different now from what you looked like when he first met you," Sarah said.

"True…but that still doesn't mean I want to start dating him again," I said in a huff.

Sarah backed off at my tone, but Beth couldn't help but state the obvious. "You wouldn't be this adamant if you weren't still interested hun."

I sighed. "Maybe you're right. But anyway, we should be heading back over to the store, you know how the guys hate to wait. So, for now, can we please drop the subject?"

Reluctantly, the pair of them agreed and we headed out.

* * *

So what do you think of Javier? Review & let me know! Ciao for now, ~A.C.


	8. AJ versus the GreenEyed Monster, Part 2

Hey all; thanks for reading the last chapter; as promised a new day, a new chapter. I'm getting tired of rewriting the disclaimer, so I'm gonna follow LB's (Renegade. Girl13's) example & say look to previous chapters for my disclaimer. As always, a huge thanks to chuckfan56 for the review! Anyway, enough of my chit-chatting, on to the story!

* * *

Sure enough, when we got to the Buy More the others were already waiting, including Javier. Chuck had given Javier his laptop back and had at least saved me the trouble of introducing him to the other Buymorians, so after a quick introduction to the gals we headed out. The bar was a hole in the wall sort of place, just short of dingy with cheap drinks and edible snacks. We pushed a couple of tables together, and the ten of us crowded around.

For everyone's safety, Jeff was in the corner. Lester sat on his left with Anna and then Morgan next to him. Chuck rounded out that side of the table with Sarah at the head of the table and Casey (who had practically been forced to come by his roommate) across from Chuck. Beth sat next to Casey and I sat next to her, leaving an unsuspecting Javier to sit on my other side on Jeff's right. Unfortunately, this also left me facing Anna.

"So, Javier, tell us about yourself," Morgan said, nursing his glass of Captain Morgan and coke. His smile seemed a bit off, though I doubted anyone else but me had noticed.

"Ay, well, I'm the oldest of seven siblings, all girls but me and the youngest, and my entire family lives in Soledad, Colombia," Javier said. His drink of choice was Samuel Adam's Dunkelweizen beer, which he was casually drinking from the bottle. "I studied business and was actually applying for a job in Bogotá when I met Ava and ended up following her all over South America. After, I went back to Bogotá and reapplied for the job, with a company called Biofilm, and I'm actually here to meet with some people from Biofilm's Burbank branch."

"Wow, and you just happened to run into _Ava _here," Morgan said, still smiling. "What are the odds?"

"It must be fate," Javier said, none too subtly draping an arm over my shoulder as he spoke.

I accepted the gesture without comment, though I did catch Beth's knowing grin in the corner of my eye. Sipping my Smirnoff and sprite, I said, "Well, I'm glad fate made you incompetent with computers. So how long are you here for?"

"Just the week, unfortunately," he answered.

"That's too bad," Beth said. "We'd have liked to have gotten to know you better."

I zoned out of the conversation for a moment, looking around at the rest of our table. Anna was smirking, looking much happier than I'd seen her in a while, her hand gripping Morgan's. Jeff and Lester meanwhile seemed to plotting something in whispers, which was worrying. On the other end, Chuck and Sarah were trying to coax Casey into relaxing, though judging by his death grip on his glass of Johnny Walker Black and his constantly shifting eyes, they were having little luck.

As the night progressed, various other members of our group continued to press Javier for information, mostly about what I'd been like when we'd first met. Despite my protests, he told them all about how wild I'd been; from the short skirts and long jackets to the uproariously long braided hair I used to have. He surprised us all by pulling a picture of the two of us in Rio from his wallet—I was wearing a tank top and some super short shorts—which had Beth teasing me for the rest of the night.

Jeffster eventually set their planning into motion by ordering a dozen tequila shots and challenging Javier to a drink-off, but one threatening look from Casey had them nixing the idea. I had to admit, despite our differences, Casey sure could be useful.

Finally, as the night drew to a close and our group started heading out, I decided to suck up my pride and take some initiative. Pulling Javier aside, I asked, "Where are you staying at?"

"The Holiday Inn right near your store," he answered. "Why?"

"Well, why don't you stay with me for the week? I'd love to catch up some more."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

I nodded. "I have a lovely guest room begging to be occupied."

"In that case, I'd love to," he answered with a grin.

Bidding the others farewell, he got into my Jeep and after a quick stop at the hotel, we headed to my place.

After showing Javier to his room, I'd gone straight to bed, and spent the rest of the night staring at the ceiling as my mind reeled. I'd left him. I'd left him without so much as a word in parting, and yet he still carried my picture around in his wallet. He'd consented to spend time with me and my friends, and had agreed to stay the week with me. Obviously, he was still interested in me. And, considering I'd spontaneously invited him to stay over, I was still interested in him.

But he was leaving in a week. It was Monday night and by Saturday he'd be back home in Colombia and I'd never see him again. So what was I going to do?

_Spend as much time with him as you can_, I voice that sounded suspiciously like Beth's said. _This is your second chance to do right by him_.

_What's the point? He'll be gone at by the weekend regardless_, another voice, this time sounding like Morgan, argued.

_But what if he's The One?_ Beth's voice said.

_He's not_, Morgan's voice answer confidently.

I shook my head, trying to clear it. Having my friends argue in my head was confusing.

* * *

Hmmm, who should AJ listen to, the Beth voice or the Morgan voice? Review if you could to let me know your thoughts on the matter. Thanks for reading! Until tomorrow, ~A.C.


	9. AJ versus the GreenEyed Monster, Part 3

So, here's part 3 of this drabble; I'm hoping you're enjoying reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks to jinxed97 for reviewing, & see previous chapters for disclaimers. Now, onward to the story!

* * *

The next morning, I woke up to find Javier had made a elaborate breakfast of eggs sunny side up, bacon, potatoes, beans, and toast.

"You cook?" I asked stupidly in way of a greeting.

He smiled that smile that had always made me melt where I stood. "Buenos dias, Ava. Yes, I cook."

"Oh, right, good morning. Sorry, I'd just never seen you cook before."

"That's because I never had the chance when we were traveling."

I nodded, taking a seat as he placed a plate in front of me. "So, uh, how's your family?" I'd never met any of Javier's family in person, but remembered they were a tight knit group, and Javier never failed to call them every Sunday while we were traveling.

"They're well. Mama was very disappointed when we broke up. She'd been looking forward to meeting you."

"You told her we broke up?"

"Well, yes, that's what happened, isn't it?"

I took a large bite of potatoes to avoid answering immediately. "I left you, Javi. Without warning or explanation. And I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Ava. You were scared, I shouldn't have been so forward. It was my fault."

This guy was unbelievable. I was a total bitch to him, and he didn't even blame me. I didn't know what to say, so I took another large bite, this time of the eggs, nearly choking when Javier spoke again.

"I was going to ask you to marry me, you know," he said.

Now dumbstruck, I said the first thing that came to my mind. "We should go. Otherwise we're going to be late for work." Leaving my half-eaten breakfast on the table, I all but ran from the kitchen, leaving Javier to follow behind me.

We didn't talk the entire drive, except for a "See you later" as I left Javier outside of the Biofilm offices. Despite already having had breakfast, I got my usual yogurt fix with a healthy dose of gossip from Beth and Sarah, and went into work. I'd barely set my messenger bag down behind the Nerd Herd desk when Morgan came up to me, with Anna right behind him.

"So how was the rest of your night?" he asked.

"Hello to you too," I said, smiling easily. "The rest of my night was quiet, why do you ask?"

He shrugged. "No reason, I just noticed you gave Javier a ride. He seems like a nice guy."

"He is. I didn't just give him a ride though; he's staying at my place for the week," I said.

"Good for you, reliving old times," Anna said. Morgan tensed up next to her.

"What, no!" I said. "Nothing like that, it's just I have perfectly good guest room that hardly ever gets used, and I know what hotel beds are like, so uncomfortable, so I thought it was the least I could do after everything to save him the discomfort!"

Anna laughed at my obvious uneasiness, but Morgan seemed to relax. For once, I was actually glad to see Jeff and Lester verbally assaulting some poor shopper, as it gave me a chance to excuse myself to go deal with them.

The rest of the day passed without incident, and at closing time Javier showed up to ride home with me.

"How was work?" I asked him as I peeled out of the parking lot.

"Alright. Yours?"

"Great." I noticed how he was gripping the edges of his seat as I continued to pick up speed. "Am I making you nervous?"

"No, it's just I'd never imagine you to be such a, what's the expression, speed demon?"

"I didn't used to be. But, things change, you know?"

He nodded. After a moment, he asked, "Why'd you stop traveling?"

I hit the brake hard, coming to a halt at a red light, and Javier jerked forward.

"My Gran died," I said. "I came back for the funeral and decided to stick around for a while and catch up with my old friends."

"I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother; I know you were close," he said. Then he added, "You plan to continue traveling then?"

"Eventually, yeah."

He didn't comment any further.

In a fit of spontaneity, I turned the car around and started driving in the opposite direction.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

An hour later, I pulled up to a deserted stretch of beat just in time for sunset. I parked in the sand and got out, motioning for Javier to follow. I pulled my boots and socks off, leaving them in the Jeep, and sat just close enough for the tide to reach my toes.

Taking a seat next to me, Javier asked, "What are we doing here?"

I rolled my eyes. "Watching the sunset of course. Chuck's dad brought Chuck, Ellie, Morgan, and me here one year for the Fourth of July. I'm not sure if Ellie and Morgan remember. But I know Chuck still comes here to think sometimes, and lately, so do I. This is the best view in all of California if you ask me."

We leaned back, watching the sun seemingly sink into the ocean. After a few minutes, Javier said, "Ava?"

"Yeah?"

He cupped my cheek, and shifted my head so that I was looking him directly in the eye. Slowly, he leaned in and gave me a quick and hesitant kiss. Then he pulled away to search my eyes again.

This time, I initiated the kiss, which was considerably longer than the first. When we parted again, short of breath, Javier asked, "Be my girlfriend again?"

"Yeah," I said, grinning. "Okay."

* * *

So, Javier's made his move & AJ's reciprocated in kind. Wonder how that'll work out? Check back in tomorrow if you want to find out, & please please please review; I love hearing your thoughts on the story. Ciao, ~A.C.


	10. AJ versus the GreenEyed Monster, Part 4

So, here's part 4 of this drabble; only 1 more part after today. Thanks to chuckfan56 for reviewing, & see previous chapters for disclaimers. Oh, I also wanted to give you a heads-up, the co-op companion to this story cowritten with LB (Renegade. Girl13), Chuck Versus the Chuckless Summer: Beth & AJ, has been updated with a new chapter & is posted under Renegade. Girl13's account. I encourage you to check it out, as well as Renegade. Girl13's Chuck Versus the Chuckless Summer: Beth. Ok, now that I'm done with the shameless plugs, storytime!

* * *

After leaving the beach, we went to dinner at a nice Italian restaurant I knew, then went home and straight to bed. Wednesday went by much the same way, except instead of going to the beach we spent a couple of hours chilling at the park before having dinner at a Chinese buffet. On Thursday, however, we went straight home, arriving at the same time as Ellie and Awesome.

"AJ, there you are! And you must be Javier, it's great to finally meet you!" Ellie said, hugging me and then Javier.

"Awesome to meet you, bro," Awesome said, pulling him into a hug after Ellie.

Pulling me away from the two of them for a moment, Ellie whispered, "He's cute!"

"Thanks, El. I suppose Chuck told you about him?"

"And Sarah. And Beth," she said with a smirk.

"Word travels fast, I suppose. So, you might as well know, as of Tuesday we're officially dating again."

Ellie beamed. "Congratulations, I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks, Ellie. Now I better go pry him away from Devon, I'm making chicken and dumplings for dinner, and if I don't start cooking soon, we'll be eating at midnight. We're still on for Girls' Night on Sunday, right?"

"Of course, I'll see you around."

With a final hug from both her and Awesome, Javier and I headed inside.

We were halfway through dinner when an abrupt knock on the front door interrupted us. I got up to get it, and found the culprit to be none other than Morgan.

"Morgan, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just need to talk to you. Alone."

"Yeah, ok." I turned back to Javier, and said to him, "I'll be right back." Closing the door behind me, I turned my full attention to Morgan, who was looking a bit rattled. "I'm all ears."

"Is it true?" he asked without build-up. "Are you dating Javier?"

I shrugged. "Yes, why?"

"He's not good for you, AJ. I mean, he doesn't even call you AJ!"

I made an incredulous noise. "What?"

"He calls you _Ava_. Only Mr. B. and your Gran ever called you Ava. It's just…wrong."

I chucked. "Blimey, what's gotten into you lately, Morgan? He calls me Ava because 'AJ' doesn't exactly translate into Spanish. But if it really means so much to you, you can call me Ava whenever you want too."

"I can?"

"Yes, you can. Now, is that all?"

"No! I still don't think you should be dating him."

"And why not?" I asked.

"Because…because it already didn't work out once, so why would it work out now?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "People change, Morgan. Last time, I was flighty, eager to continue my adventuring. That's not the case anymore."

He shook his head. "Whatever, AJ. I'll, I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

Something in his tone bothered me, so I asked, "Morgan? You're not mad, are you?"

He shook his head more resolutely. "No, of course not. Bye, AJ."

"Bye, Morgan."

I watched him bike off, feeling thoroughly confused. I took a moment to center my chi, then went back inside to Javier.

Friday at work, it was nearing lunchtime before I even spotted Morgan and as soon as I approached him, he busied himself with a client. More confused than ever, I took to brooding in the home appliances section, trying to sort things out.

"What's up with you, Abbott?"

I turned, to find John Casey watching me walk circles around the washing machines.

"Nothing's up, Casey."

He grunted, obviously not buying it.

"Fine, Morgan's acting weird and I don't know why and it's bothering me."

This time his grunt sounded amused. "And here I thought you were one of the few people here who isn't a moron."

I leaned on the nearest washing machine. "Um, thanks?"

"The troll's jealous, Abbott."

"Jealous? Why would Morgan be jealous? He's got a girlfriend!"

Casey rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Wu's a real catch. Right along the same class of person as those numb nuts." He motioned towards Jeff and Lester, who were currently throwing spitballs at customers.

Despite myself, I smirked. "You make a valid point. But Morgan obviously doesn't feel the same, so I don't see why he's got his knickers in a twist."

With another grunt and single shake of his head, Casey walked away. But just before I was out of earshot, I heard him mumble "Morons" to himself and saw him shake his head again.

Maybe the guy wasn't so bad after all.

It was Javier's last full day in town, so we decided to make the most of our time together by spending a quiet night in, complete with pizza and a wide selection of classic movies. We were trying to decide between _Casa Blanca_ and _Gone with the Wind_, when Javier jumpstarted the very conversation I'd been trying to avoid.

"We need to talk."

I calmly put the DVDs back on the table before turning to him. "Yeah, I figured. Listen, I think what you're going to say, and I'm willing to try a long distance relationship if you are."

"That wasn't what I was going to say at all."

"Oh." Drat, when did I turn into Chuck? "Well then, what were you going to say?"

He took my hand in his. "Come with me."

"What?"

"Come with me," he said again. "Tomorrow. To Colombia."

With a deep sigh, I pulled away. "No, Javier. Don't do this."

"Do what?" he asked. There was a desperate edge in his voice, reflected by the look in his eyes.

"This," I said, throwing my hands skyward. "Why do we have to repeat the past?"

"Because this is our chance to do things differently, Ava. You've changed, I can tell; you're not scared of sitting still for too long anymore. Say you'll come with me."

I bit my lip. Slowly, wordlessly, I nodded.

A look pure relief flashed on Javier's face, followed by delight. He kissed me, both his hands on my cheeks, and I lost myself in the moment.

* * *

Hmmmmm, wonder if there's a Buy More in Colombia? Review if you get the chance, pretty please with Captain Awesome on top, & look for the conclusion of this particular drabble tomorrow! ~A.C.


	11. AJ versus the GreenEyed Monster, Part 5

Okay, so apparently the website's having issues with new chapter updates (or at least it is on mine & LB's computers), but I did want to reiterate that a new chapter is up on Chuck Versus the Chuckless Summer: Beth & AJ, it might just be a while before you see it. Usual disclaimer applies, plus any characters you don't recognize are mine too. Anyway, thanks to chuckfan56 for the review; you're definitely not reading it wrong btw ;) But enough build-up, here's the final part of AJ versus the Green-Eyed Monster:

* * *

What the hell had I agreed to?

The rest of the night had passed in a blur, and before I knew it I found myself in bed, wide awake once more. Rather than stare at the ceiling again, I took to staring around the room, making out the vague shapes of my bookshelves and desk, as well as my chest of drawers, nightstand, and TV stand.

This room had been mine since I was five, the first time I'd stayed the summer with Gran. Well, technically I'd shared the room with my brother Ethan back then, before he'd decided he was too good for Gran, and for me. I'd come here when I left the Abbott Mansion for good at eighteen, and had sat on this very same bed crying into Gran's shirt. Three years later, this had been the last bed I'd slept in before leaving to travel the world.

This house had been the last place I'd seen Gran alive. Ethan and I had actually gotten along when we were in this house together. I'd met Chuck and Ellie and Mr. B. and _Morgan_ because of this house.

So why was I thinking of leaving again?

_Beats me_, the Morgan in my head said. _Seems stupid to run off with Javier now that you've come home._

I groaned. 'Morgan' was right; what on God's green earth was I thinking?

_You're thinking that you want to give love a chance_, the Beth voice explained. _It's reasonable enough._

_Please, that's not reasonable; that's crazy!_ Pseudo-Morgan said. _You barely know the guy!_

_You traveled with him for seven months; I'd say you know him pretty well_, Pseudo-Beth countered.

The Morgan voice huffed. _Whether you know him or not isn't the issue; the issue is whether he's worth giving up everything you've built for yourself here._

I waited for 'Beth' to argue. She didn't. Not knowing what to think, I turned my side, closed my eyes, and willed myself to sleep.

"Where's your bag?"

I walked into the kitchen the next morning, where Javier was cooking up a storm, my hands firmly buried in the pockets of my jeans. I caught his eye, and gave a miniscule shake of my head. He seemed to understand, as his face dropped immediately and he stopped what he was doing.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I'm so, so sorry. But, Javier, I have a life here. I can't just walk away from it."

"Why not? You walked away from me once."

"I know, and I shouldn't have just up and left without talking to you. But, last time I valued my independence more than you. This time, it's sort of the opposite; I can't just leave my family. You can understand that, can't you?" I took a deep breath. My eyes were getting a bit watery.

"I'll be all the family you need," Javier said with an insistent edge. "I love you, Ava. Why can't you just come with me?"

"I'm sorry," I said again. "I wish I could."

He searchedmy face for any miniscule flickers of doubt. When he didn't find any, he gave a single nod and finally moved out of the kitchen and towards me. He gave me a single chaste kiss on the cheek, wiping away a stray tear with his thumb, then grabbed his suitcase from the foyer and walked out the door.

It occurred to me that he'd probably have to call a cab, but I couldn't bring myself to offer him a ride to the airport. I felt awful.

Wandering up to the guestroom some time later, I noticed Javier had left something on the nightstand. I moved closer, and saw it was the picture of the two of us in Rio. I flipped it over, and found he'd written something on the back.

_I hope you find happiness. –Javier_

After putting the picture back on the nightstand, I went back downstairs and dialed a familiar number.

Twenty minutes later, I opened the door for Morgan and motioned for him to come inside. "Thanks for coming, Morgan."

He nodded wordlessly, and the two of us took a seat on my couch.

"So, what's up?" he asked finally.

"Javier's gone," I said. "We broke up again."

I caught a ghost of a smile on Morgan's face before it settled into a frown, and he said, "I'm sorry; I know you really liked him."

I shrugged. Then I said, "He wanted me to move to Colombia with him."

Morgan's eyes widened, "What?"

"Yeah, I know. He said he loved me and that he'd be all the family I needed. Crazy, huh?"

"Definitely," Morgan said, nodding adamantly. "How could he ask that of you?"

"I almost went with him, you know. I seriously thought about it."

Morgan paled considerably, but his voice remained perfectly steady and forcibly nonchalant. "So why didn't you?"

"I spent years on the move, jumping from place to place without ever stopping. And finally, at the end of it all, I found myself here. And as much as I loved traveling to the four corners of the earth, I've never had so much fun as I have these last few months. For the first time, I've got a home, I've got a job, and most importantly, I've got the best friends a girl could ask for."

With a smile, Morgan pulled me into a hug, whispering so low I almost didn't hear him, "I'm glad you decided to stay."

I snuggled into his shoulder, wishing the moment would never end. How could I have ever considered giving all of this up?

"Hey, AJ?"

"Yeah, Morgan?"

"Do you mind if I stay over tonight? I wouldn't ask, except Big Mike and my mom are driving me crazy."

"Of course you can crash here," I said, "but won't Anna mind?"

Morgan shrugged. "She'll get over it. Besides, she doesn't understand what it's like to hear my mother doing the dirty with _Big Mike_." He shuddered.

Yeah, wayward spirits reunited by true love may have a nice ring to it, but so did childhood friends who realize in adulthood they're meant to be together.

* * *

So, AJ didn't go to Colombia & maybe she's got a chance with Morgan yet. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking? Also, we got to hear a bit about her family, which I promise will be explored more thoroughly later on. Please, take a second if you can to review & share your thoughts, & no promises on when the next chapter will be up, since I'm currently writing it, but I'll try not to take too long. Thanks for reading! ~A.C.


	12. Spying on the Enemy

Hey guys, so I finally finished writing this last night, which means you finally get a new update. :) The usual disclaimers apply: AJ is mine, Beth is LB's, & anyone else you recognize is NBC's. Oh, & any other chracters you don't recognize are also mine. As for spoilers, this is based on Chuck episode 2.14 Chuck versus the Best Friend, so there are obviously spoilers for that. Thanks to chuckfan56 & Dimonah Tralon for the reviews; I appreciate it! Okay, now onto the story-

* * *

"Okay, check it out," Morgan said, showing a photograph of Anna on the big screen of the entertainment room.

"A picture of your ex-girlfriend? That's why I had to come in here on my coffee break?" Chuck said. I was sitting squeezed between him and Jeff on the couch, wishing to the almighty that the nightmare would be over soon.

"Anna Melinda Wu. 5'2", 96 pounds, of Chinese descent," Morgan continued, pacing the length of the room.

"Why are we in here talking about your ex?" I demanded.

"Because," Morgan said, "today I need your help on a mission."

"What kind of mission?" Chuck asked.

"A spy mission, Charles," Lester said.

Crazy-eyed, Jeff said to me, "Can you handle it?"

"If I can handle having you in my personal bubble, I'm pretty sure I can handle anything," I said in disgust.

"Good point," Chuck agreed.

"Hey guys, can we get back to the briefing please?" Morgan said. "You see, I'm afraid Anna may be seeing a new guy."

"Whoa, hey, timeout," Chuck said, motioning with his hands. "You want us to spy on Anna?"

"No! That's not what you mean at all, is it, Morgan?" I said.

"Of course not," Morgan said with a laugh. "You two would just be there for moral support. You're not skilled in spy craft. No, that's where Jeff and Lester come in."

I slumped down in my seat. Spying on Morgan's ex— talk about a new all-time low.

"Does it shock you that eighty percent of my encounters with women have been completely without their knowledge?" Jeff said, waggling his eyebrows. Gross.

"Honestly, I'm more surprised by the other twenty percent," Chuck said, before turning back to Morgan. "But look, buddy, I know you're going through a tough time, but I don't feel comfortable stalking another human being."

"I second that."

"Dude, it's not stalking, okay? It's caring enough about someone to learn things about them they won't tell you themselves."

"Which is stalking," both Chuck and I said.

"Look, I really need you on this one, so please?"

Chuck and I exchanged a glance, before turning back to Morgan. "Fine, we're in."

-Chuck Me-

"Whoa. What is this place?" Chuck asked, looking into the back of Jeff's van, which was decked out in all sorts of tech. It was actually kind of cool.

Lester answered, "Whatever our friend Jeffrey here doesn't guzzle down his throat he spends on spy gear. Incredible, right?"

"Incredibly creepy," Chuck said, and I nodded my agreement. I still couldn't believe we were going through with this.

"Hey gentlemen, let's go, man your posts," Morgan said.

I raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Sorry, gentlemen and lady, man your posts."

"Better."

I climbed into the van, almost climbing right out again when I realized Lester was in the driver's seat. Chuck took the passenger's seat leaving me to sit in the back with Morgan, who had the binoculars, and Jeff, who was manning the audio.

From his seat, Chuck pulled out a large orange glove and threw it back so that it landed squarely on my head. Giving a panicked yelp, I shook it off and stomped on it a few times for good measure.

"We have a visual acquisition of the target," Morgan said after a moment.

"We got ears on her," Jeff added.

"Subject is on the move," Lester said, pulling out of the parking lot behind her.

Okay, this was officially way more uncomfortable than I'd anticipated it would be.

-Chuck Me-

Pulling into the back parking lot of the restaurant Anna had stopped at, Morgan opened the van door partially so we could have a clear view of his ex sitting at a table, clearly waiting for someone.

"Guys, we can't do this, we shouldn't be doing this right now. We're like crazy stalkers!" Chuck said.

I added to Morgan, "Chuck's right, stop and think about what you're doing. What are you hoping to gain from this anyway?"

"Look, I know exactly what I'm doing you guys, I'm getting answers," Morgan said.

"Yeah," Chuck said, "but there are other ways of doing that."

Lester interjected, "We tried cloning Anna's cell, but—"

I cut him off quickly. "Seriously? Okay, let me say this right here and right now, if you ever clone my phone, I _will_ find out and I _will_ kill you."

"Wait wait wait," Morgan said, waving his hand for us to be quiet, "there's a guy, there's a guy that just showed up."

Lester snatched up the spare binoculars. "Let me see, let me see. Oh. Maybe it's her brother."

I snatched the binoculars away in time to see Anna and her mystery man sharing a passionate kiss.

Handing the binoculars to Jeff, he said, "Still, could be her brother."

I shuddered at the thought.

"Alright, let's pack it up, abort mission," Morgan said, his voice full of resignation. "I mean I can't compete with this guy. This guy has healthy hair, a clean smile, and a killer car. Look at him; he's my worst nightmare."

"Nonsense, Morgan," I said briskly. "He's got nothing that you don't have. Besides, I doubt he's as funny and understanding and loyal as you are."

"You really think so?"

I nodded.

"What do you think, Chuck?" Morgan asked.

"I don't know, I'd trust your instincts pal," Chuck said. "We should really be going."

I elbowed him. "Chuck!"

"Not now, AJ, seriously. We need to go."

I sighed. "Fine. Get us out of here, Lester. But, Morgan, I still say he's got nothing on you."

-Chuck Me-

A while later back in the Buy More, I confronted Chuck. "What was that?"

"What do you mean?"

"We were supposed to be there supporting Morgan and instead you pretty much agreed with him that he didn't stand a chance! What kind of a best friend are you?"

"I'm looking out for him, believe me," Chuck said. Noticing Casey glaring in his general direction, he added, "Listen, I've got to go, we'll talk about this later, okay?"

Before I could answer, he clapped me on the back and walked off. Gah, this was ridiculous. I didn't even approve of Anna. If I was honest, I hated her for having what I couldn't have, Morgan. Yet here I was trying to convince Morgan he could win her back. Speaking of Morgan, he was moping in the home electronics section.

"How're you doing?"

He shrugged, frowning.

"You should go talk to her," I suggested.

"Yeah?"

I nodded. "Yeah. It can't hurt to try, right?"

"Right. Thanks, AJ."

Clapping him on the shoulder, I said, "No problem. Now go get 'er, tiger."

He went over to her and they started talking, though even out of earshot I could tell he was saying all the wrong things. Actually, I was kind of relieved when Chuck stepped in, until he sent Morgan away and kept talking with Anna on his own. How odd. Curious, I moved closer to hear what they were talking about.

"—how would you like to go on a double date or something sometime?"

What the hell?

He wrapped up his conversation, and Casey, who had also been watching the interaction, said to him in a hushed voice, "Good job."

I smacked his arm. "Don't encourage him! Chuck, what are you doing, going on a double date with _Anna_?"

"Look, it's not what you think—"

"You're betraying your best friend!"

Chuck shook his head adamantly. Before he could answer, Casey did, saying, "He's looking out for him. No better way to scope out the opposition than from behind enemy lines."

"You stay out of this," I snapped.

Casey gave a menacing growl in response, but Chuck was quick to step between us. "Down, Casey. AJ, you've got to trust me, you know I'd never do anything to hurt Morgan, he's my best buddy."

I stared him down. "You better know what you're doing," I said finally before stalking off.

-Chuck Me-

"Hey, Morgan, what are you doing tonight?"

It was a few hours later and the end of our shift, so we were both in the break room grabbing our things.

He turned from his locker, which was to the left of mine. "Well, actually, I kinda have plans."

"Oh, yeah, don't worry about it, I was just thinking if you weren't busy we could order a pizza and play Halo?"

"That sounds great, but…" he trailed off, nodding towards Anna.

"Oh, Morgan, you're not planning on following her around some more, are you?"

He shrugged in an 'I can't help myself' sort of a way. "Do you want to come with me?" he asked.

Not in the absolute slightest. "Sure."

He smiled brightly. "Great! Can we go in your Jeep?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

-Chuck Me-

Half an hour later, I was regretting accompanying Morgan more than ever. Chuck and Sarah had just arrived, and I wasn't particularly good at faking incredulity. Too caught up in his own astonishment though, Morgan didn't seem to notice.

"I can't, I don't—AJ, what're Chuck and Sarah doing here?"

"I have no bloody idea," I answered honestly.

"He's talking with them! That traitor's hanging out with Anna and her new man!"

"Maybe he's spying on her for you," I suggested tiredly, rubbing my temples.

Morgan turned to me. "Do you think so?"

"I don't know, Morgan, but it's Chuck, isn't it? Would he ever really betray you?"

"Yeah, you're right. I mean, it's Chuck."

I watched Morgan watch Anna for a few more minutes in silence, before he said, "We should go in."

"No, we really shouldn't. For one thing, we're not dressed appropriately and for another, we weren't invited."

He turned from the passenger's seat, looking me up and down, an appreciative smile spreading across his face. "I don't know, I think we could make it work."

I smacked him upside the head. "We're not sneaking in, Morgan."

"Well, I am," he said determinately, taking off his seat belt and opening the door.

"If you leave, I'm not waiting for you. So be sure to dismount your bike before you go." Never mind that I put in a bike rack just for you and that I've been helping you stalk your ex. Or that I let you crash at my place all the time. Go ahead and lay it all on the line for the skank.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then."

I waited for him to grab his bike and move to one side before taking off. What the crikey was I doing anyway? This infatuation I had with Morgan, it wasn't healthy. Or productive. Next to Anna, who was I but the little girl whose pigtails he used to pull? As preoccupied as I was with my thoughts, I didn't even notice the car speeding right past the red light and at me until it was too late.

-Chuck Me-

Owwwwwwwww. Oh, not good, the airbag had ejected and that was definitely blood on my steering wheel. And on my face. And God, my head sure was pounding. I opened the door of the car and damn near face planted, my hands barely beating my face in hitting the ground.

"Ma'am, ma'am, are you okay?"

Ma'am? Seriously? I hadn't even turned twenty-seven yet!

"M'swell. You the idiot who banged up my Jeep?"

"Yeah, I'm really sorry. My dad'll totally pay for the repairs."

"How 'bout you start with helping me up?"

He scrambled to pull me up and leaning against my car for support, I got my first good look at the kid. He was sixteen at the most, and judging from his designer clothes and the Lamborghini he'd been driving came from good money. Gangly with red hair and freckles, he stood awkwardly next to me in the deserted stretch of road where we'd wrecked.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Oh, uh, Kyle."

I held out a hand to him. "Nice to meet you, Kyle; I'm AJ. Tell me, what was so important that you thought it was a good idea to run a red light? Frat party? Pretty girl?"

"Actually, I, um, I was running late for band practice."

"Band practice?" I couldn't help it, I laughed. "Your friends must tease the mickey out of you."

He shrugged.

Shaking my head and regretting it immediately, I asked, "Did you call the cops yet?"

"No, I wanted to make sure you were okay first."

"I appreciate that." I considered for a moment, then asked, "How much trouble are you going to be in with your parents if they find out about this?"

"Considering they think I'm on the other side of town taking a night class in advanced mathematics and have no idea I'm in the band? A _lot_."

Shieße, a rebel. I had a soft spot for rebellious rich kids who pursued their dreams, considering I'd been one myself. Taking a deep breath, I said finally, "Tell them it was my fault then."

"What? Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Yeah. But don't think this is a free pass; you _will_ be paying me back for damages to my Jeep with the hefty allowance I'm sure you get."

"Of course, ma'am, you have my word."

"For Jupiter's sake, kid, stop calling me ma'am. I'm twenty-six, not sixty-two."

"Sorry. Do you need me to drive you to the hospital? You don't look so good."

"No, I don't need a hospital, two of my neighbors are friends. I mean two of my friends are doctors. And they're also neighbors. Mine, that is. Just, get me home, would you?"

I tossed him my keys, which I'd grabbed before falling out of the car, and he stared at me blankly. "You want me to drive your car?"

"Does it look like it can be driven? What I want you to do is pull it off to the side of the road so that I can have it towed in the morning. Then I want you to exchange information with me and drive me home so that my friendly neighborhood doctors can clean me up."

"Okay." Doing as I told him, he managed to get my Jeep to the side of the road and we were soon on our way towards the apartments. All things considered, I felt alright if you didn't count the massive headache and the blood smeared on my forehead. Knowing it'd probably be a bad idea to doze off, I decided to make conversation with Kyle.

"So what instrument do you play?"

"Well, I play the piano, and the guitar, and I'm just now learning how to play the harp."

I raised an eyebrow. "The harp?"

"I need something distinctive if I want to get into a good music program."

"Fair enough. Bet your parents are going to love that."

He frowned. "Not exactly. My parents want me to take over the family business someday. I just want to play music."

"Hey, I've been there kid; I came from an upper-class family too. You just stick to your guns and be true to yourself."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I walked out on my snobby parents the moment I could and I've never regretted it. You'll see, there's nothing quite as cathartic as telling your parents to stick it."

"I'll keep that in mind," he said, pulling into the apartment complex. "This your stop?"

"Yep. It was nice meeting you kid, though I wish it had been under other circumstances."

"I really am sorry," he said. "I'll start sending you payments for the repairs right away."

"You do that. I wish you luck." I got out of the car, waving at the kid and yelling after him to be more careful from now on. I started off towards Casa Bartowski, but had barely taken two steps when Beth pulled up in her truck.

"Hey, who was that dropping you off—hell's bells, what happened?"

"Car crash. The Jeep's gonna need some repairs."

"Never mind the Jeep, have you gotten checked out yet?"

"No, I was hoping Ellie or Awesome was home."

Grabbing me by the arm, Beth pulled me along. "Well, c'mon then, let's go."

As we walked, she said, "So I take it the boy who dropped you off was the one who crashed into you?"

"Yeah, he's a good kid."

Beth quirked her head. "He's a good kid? He wrecked your car."

I shrugged, wincing as my body protested the movement. "Accidents happen. Besides, I could kind of relate to him."

"What, did you get into a lot of wrecks as a teenager?"

"_No._ Well, a couple of times, actually, but that's not what I meant. Oh, look, we're here." Knocking on the door, it was only a few seconds before Ellie answered.

"Beth, AJ—AJ, what happened?"

"Just a small accident, Ellie, would you mind checking me out?"

"Of course, come on in."

Sitting on the couch with Beth watching from the armchair, Ellie started looking at the cut on my forehead.

"Ow!"

"Sorry. Well, it's pretty shallow thankfully, but I'm worried about this bump on your head. I haven't heard you slurring or stumbling, but is your vision blurry or are your ears ringing or anything like that?"

"Um, I'm a bit lightheaded and nauseous, does that count?"

"That definitely counts. Okay, you might have a slight concussion, so somebody's going to have to stay with you tonight to wake you every few hours and monitor your condition."

I turned to Beth. "Up for a sleepover?"

"Yeah, no problem, I just need to stop by my place and let John know."

After thanking Ellie and promising her I'd take it easy, we headed out, with Beth making sure I was safely inside before running over to her apartment real quick. I lay back on the couch, trying to focus my thoughts but finding it exceedingly difficult. Damn Morgan. Damn Anna. This was all their fault.

"What'd Anna and Morgan have to do with your getting in a wreck?"

"Oh hey, you're back. The big bear complain 'bout his honey not coming home tonight?"

"I'm going to assume that was the concussion talking and not answer. C'mon, let's go get you on up to bed."

-Chuck Me-

The next morning, I insisted on going to work though I looked and felt like hell. Beth was reluctant, but after promising I'd do absolutely no work and would have Chuck drive me home if I felt too ill, she agreed to let me carpool with her. Really, the only reason I wanted to go to work is because I wanted to know what had happened with Morgan and Anna after I'd left.

Morgan was stacking boxes when I arrived at the Buy More, so I took a seat on the rolling ladder he had with him and waited for him to notice me.

"Good morning, AJ—holy crap, what happened?"

I sighed. The astonishment at my condition was getting old fast. Though, looking at myself for the first time in the mirror while getting ready for work, I had to admit I did look pretty shocking. The cut on my forehead ran above my right eye and had been bandaged. Just to the right of it, I had a huge and nasty-looking bump, and I was bruised all over. Honestly, I'd probably look more at home in a hospital than in an electronics store.

"Got into a wreck last night; it's not big deal. How was the rest of your night?"

"No big deal! AJ, why didn't you call me?"

"What would you have done, biked to my rescue?"

"Yes!"

Okay, must not grin, must not grin, must not— oh, to heck with it. "I appreciate that, but there was no reason to cause a fuss. Now, tell me about the rest of your spy work."

"Well, it was kinda cut short when Chuck ousted me to Anna and everybody else."

"He did _what_?"

"I know, right? I couldn't believe it either."

I shook my head in disbelief, but stopped immediately when the room started spinning. "Whoa."

His hand on my shoulder, Morgan asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I just don't know how I'm going to go get the Jeep later if I can't even see straight."

"Where's it at?"

"The repair shop a few blocks from here. The damage really wasn't all that bad, so they said they'd have her good as new by the end of the day."

"Oh, well, I can go with you to get it, if you want?" Morgan offered.

"That'd be great. I can ride on your handlebars like in the old days," I said.

Morgan laughed. "In the old days, I was the one on the handlebars because you were the faster peddler, remember?"

I nodded. "Sure do. Meet you at shift's end then."

"It's a date."

-Chuck Me-

A few hours later, Morgan was nowhere to be found. I paced around the break room, waiting for him to show up, but he was nowhere to be found. Neither was Chuck, nor the others for that matter. Finally I resorted to asking Big Mike to drive me to the repair shop (because there was no way I'd entrust my life to those drunken fools Jeff and Lester). From the repair shop I stopped by a Subway to buy Big Mike a thank you sub and when I went to drop it off I found the others were back in time for Jeffster's performance.

"Hey, Chuck, Sarah. Where were you guys?"

"Oh, you know, I—hey-o, what happened?"

"Fell down the stairs," I said breezily. "So where did you say you were?"

"Oh, you know, I was out on a Nerd Herd emergency."

"And Beth and I had a yogurt crisis," Sarah said. "Had to fix a problem with the machines."

"Right…have you guys seen Morgan?" I asked, raising my voice slightly as the band started to play "Africa".

"Yeah, I think he was in the break room," Chuck said.

I stormed off without so much as a word in parting, ready to give Morgan a piece of my mind for standing me up. Walking into the break room, I heard him say, "—Anna Wu, I lo—like you, very very much" just before she giggled and gave him one hell of a kiss.

Slipping out of the room unnoticed, I let the tears fall as Lester's surprisingly decent singing reached my ears— "I know that I must do what's right; Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti; I seek to cure what's deep inside; Frightened of this thing that I've become."

* * *

Poor AJ, huh? Sorry to anyone out there who's an Anna Wu fan, I used to be til I started writing these drabbles. Anyway, I promise the next drabble will be of the funnier side, though since I've yet to start writing it, I have a feeling it'll be a while yet before I post the next chapter. Maybe you could pass the time by reviewing & checking out CVTCS: Beth & CVTCS: Beth & AJ (both posted under Renegade. Girl13's account)? :) Au revoir, ~A.C.


	13. Picnics & Pick Up Lines

So I definitely got this done a lot faster than I thought I would, yay! Thanks to Dimonah Tralon for the review; I definitely considered leaving it there lol. Usual disclaimer applies, &...I think that's actually it, so enjoy!

* * *

From what Chuck and Morgan had told me, the Buy More employee picnic was as exciting as things got in Burbank. And I sure could use some excitement.

After my wreck and finding out Morgan was back together with Anna the hard way, things had wound down to the point of monotony. I'd go to work, go home, go to work, go home, over and over again without any breakup in the routine whatsoever. Loathe though I was to admit it, my old wanderlust was starting to creep up again.

"AJ, are getting sick? You've hardly touched your Jaded Jocote yogurt."

"I'm fine, Beth. Let it go."

"No need to be so touchy," Sarah commented from behind the yogurt counter. "You look like my friend Carina after she's been on a long-term sting operation." At my raised eyebrow, she added, "She's a cop; she has trouble sitting still."

"Right. I'm sorry you guys, I'm just so _bored_. I haven't stayed this long in a single place since I was in college."

"Well you can't just leave if that's what you're thinking," Beth said. "Ellie's wedding is in less than two months."

"Yeah, I know. I was thinking of taking a road trip, maybe going to Vegas for a few days to blow off a bit of steam."

"You'd still better be at the employee picnic this weekend," Sarah said. "I was practically the only girl there last year and Jeff and Lester wouldn't leave me alone."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't worry; I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Okay, so I'd lied. But really, spending my day off with the Buymorians at the park wasn't on top of my to-do list. About an hour before we were all supposed to leave for the picnic, I snuck out of my house, creeping past the courtyard towards the parking lot.

"Just where do you think you're going?"

I looked up at Sarah, who was standing next to her Porsche in the parking lot.

"Um, I was just going to head out to the park early, see if Big Mike and Emmett needed help with set up?"

"Dressed like that?"

Merde, I knew I shouldn't have worn heels. "Would you believe these are my park-going shoes?"

Sarah shook her head. "No way you're going to the casinos instead of to the picnic. Come on, let's go."

"But, Sarah…"

"No buts. Go get ready."

She followed me back to my apartment, guarding the stairwell to make sure I couldn't escape. I went back to my room to look for something picnic appropriate to wear. Well, considering there was a volleyball game later on, a sport's bra was probably a good bet. With, yeah, my orange short shorts and baggy old t-shirt. That'd work. Finishing the outfit off with a pair of tennis shoes, I went downstairs to find Sarah making an anchovy and tuna sub.

"Help yourself," I said dryly as I watched Sarah.

"I'm doing this for you," Sarah answered. "I happen to know Anna loves tuna and anchovies."

"Uh, ok?"

She pulled a small unlabelled bottle from her pocket. "I'm lacing it with a laxative. One bite and I guarantee she'll be leaving the picnic early."

I raised an eyebrow. "That's…genius! First of all, I didn't realize you could be so cunning. Second of all, I didn't realize you disliked Anna so much. I mean, shouldn't you be lacing Jeff and Lester's food instead?"

"Considering what they usually eat, do you really think a laxative would affect them?"

"Good point."

"Besides, I dislike anybody who hates my friends for no good reason. First Ellie, then you and Beth. We won't have a good time today if she's glaring at you and Beth the entire time."

I grinned. "Well thanks, Sarah. You're a good friend, you know? After all, no one's every poisoned someone for me before."

"It's not poison, just a laxative!"

We shared a laugh, before Sarah finished making the sandwich and wrapped it in Subway paper.

The park was already crowded when I arrived, my Jeep flanked by the Crown Vic and the Porsche. Sarah, Chuck, and I helped Casey and Beth unload the outrageous amount of desserts Beth had baked for the occasion, and we all set up our picnic blankets near each other. It wasn't long before Morgan came over, Anna following after him like a baby duckling. I was sprawled out on my picnic blanket, lying on my stomach with my feet in the air and my head resting in my hands.

"Hey, guys, how's it going?"

"Considering I'm here against my will, swell," I said. "What about you, having a good time?"

"We just got here too," Morgan said with a shrug. "Wanna go grab food?"

"Sure."

I jumped up, looping my arm through Morgan's before Anna could comment and leading the way over to where the food was set up. Big Mike handed us each a plate and it was with satisfaction that I saw Anna pick up the anchovies and tuna sub Sarah had prepared. Heading back to join the rest of the gang, I couldn't help but grin.

"Did she take it?" Sarah asked.

I nodded, and we both burst into laughter.

"Am I missin' something here?" Beth asked, looking between us.

Sarah motioned for her to come closer so Casey and especially Chuck wouldn't overhear us and then told her the gist of it. Soon Beth was howling with laughter.

"Serves her right," she said when she'd calmed down some. "Bet she didn't even taste any of the desserts I brought."

"She didn't," I confirmed. "Made faces when Morgan served himself three of the fudge bars you made."

Shaking her head, Beth said, "Figures. I dunno what Morgan sees in that shapeless twig."

I nodded in agreement. Damned if I knew. Our conversation turned to other things as we ate, but soon enough, we saw Anna stand and run off, with Morgan not bothering to go after her.

"Don't suppose you had anything to do with that, Abbott?" Casey asked.

"Do I look like I have telekinetic powers?"

He grunted, and I snarled back at him, wondering not for the first time how Beth could bear living with him.

Morgan, meanwhile, had picked up his stuff and was walking back towards us.

"Where'd Anna run off to?" I asked.

"Home, I guess she wasn't feeling well. Probably that sub she was eating. I mean, did you see it? It looked gross!"

Avoiding meeting Sarah or Beth's eye at all costs, I said, "Oh well, that's too bad. Guess you'll have to spend the rest of the day with us then."

Setting his blanket directly next to mine, Morgan answered, "Guess so."

We'd been in the middle of a deep philosophical discussion (Star Wars versus Star Trek) when Jeff and Lester crept over.

"Well hello ladies," Lester said, looking from Beth to me. "Tell me, have either of you got two nipples for a dime?"

"Go away," I said shortly. "There's no way you're ever getting anywhere near my goods."

"You're so hot you melt the plastic in my underwear," Jeff said, staring at Beth with a bit of drool running down his chin.

Casey was on his feet and strangling Jeff within seconds, holding him up against a tree. Lester ran away screaming like a girl.

"Um, Casey buddy? Do you think maybe you could put him down now? He's starting to turn purple," Chuck said.

"So?"

"John, it's alright, let him go."

At Beth's words, Casey reluctantly set Jeff down. "Next time you talk to a woman like that, I won't hold back."

Jeff slumped unconscious against the tree.

"I think you killed him," I commented, impressed. Casey and I may not see eye to eye, but the man definitely knew how to deal with those two idiots.

Sarah checked his pulse. "He'll be fine," she said. "Just as long as he doesn't anger Casey again."

Alerted by Lester of the commotion, Emmett had 'run' over, and was panting by the time he arrived. "What's…going on…here?"

"Jeff fell," Sarah said smoothly. "We were making sure he was alright."

"Really? Because Lester said you were assaulting him, John." He poked Casey in the chest, but backed off several feet when Casey gave an irritated growl.

"Casey wouldn't hurt a fly, Emmett," I said with a smirk. "Unless the fly was a shoplifter, that is."

"Hmmmmm. Well, in any case, violence won't be tolerated at any company sponsored events, and you'd all do well to remember that. But anyway, Michael wanted me to let you know the volleyball game will be starting soon."

Emmett walked off again, holding a stitch in his side, and I said to Casey, "You owe me one for covering for you."

He growled in acknowledgement.

For being the highlight of the employee picnic, it seemed nobody wanted to actually participate in the volleyball game. Beth, Sarah, and I'd volunteered to play immediately, dragging Casey, Chuck, and Morgan along with us. Big Mike was also playing, and Emmett, concerned about getting a sunburn, had agreed to referee. To round out the group, Jeff and Lester were playing as well.

"So, we usually play boys versus ladies, but considering we only have three ladies willing to play, how are we going to do teams?" Big Mike said.

"We can still play guys versus girls," I said, looking from Sarah to Beth, who were both in agreement.

Big Mike shook his head. "That wouldn't be fair. Casey, why don't you play on the ladies' team to even things out?"

Casey moved to stand next to Beth.

"We're doomed," Chuck commented.

I couldn't help but agree with his assessment. I'd played volleyball in high school, and Beth had once mentioned that she used to play back in Tennessee. And I had no doubt in my mind both Sarah and Casey were athletic enough to wipe the floor with the competition. Meanwhile, Chuck was decently athletic, and even Morgan had his moments, but there was no way Jeff and Lester were any good, and Big Mike just didn't seem the volleyball type. Yep, they were definitely doomed.

Big Mike threw up the ball, and since I was the one who caught it, it was decided I'd serve first. I pulled off my t-shirt, since it was so baggy I worried it'd be a hindrance, and took my place of in the back left in just my sports bra and shorts. With Sarah next to me, Beth in front of me, and Casey diagonal, I threw the ball upwards and jumped, hitting it over the net without problem. It hit the grass squarely in between Jeff and Lester, who were too busy staring at my bust to notice the game had even started.

Laughing, I moved forward so Sarah could take my place. She set the ball in motion with an underhand serve, which Chuck managed to return with a bump pass, only for Casey to spike it over the net so hard that it actually left a noticeable dent in the grass.

"Okay, we're worse than doomed," Chuck amended. "We're dead."

Twenty points later, they really were dead. Or close to it, considering they'd only managed to score three points.

It was Beth's turn to serve, and just as she threw the ball in the air, Lester said, "You must be a high jumper, because you make my bar raise!"

Momentarily distracted, Beth hit the ball sloppily and it didn't quite clear the net. Casey growled, but none of us commented on the unfairness of distracting us with bad pick up lines.

Big Mike served the ball and Sarah passed it to Beth, who returned it with a particularly vicious attack that hit Lester squarely on the forehead before it hit the ground.

Maybe that'd teach him to shut up. Concentrating on nothing but the ball, I prepared to serve.

"I'd marry your cat just to get in the family."

Well there went my concentration. My hit was way off, going out of bounds and grazing Emmett's shoulder. Shieße.

"Shut your mouth, Patel, or I will sew it shut," Casey growled at him.

"I'd listen to him if I were you," Morgan advised.

Chuck added, "Yeah; that was definitely a number five grunt."

"What's the matter, John, worried I'll find out what time all those nice set of legs open before you do?"

Everybody saw it coming but Lester. One second Casey was beside Beth, holding the volleyball, the next it was lights out for Lester. Casey stood over him, pinning him down with his foot, bouncing the volleyball off his face. Nobody was stupid enough to tell him off, not even holier-than-thou Emmett.

After a Lester had been reduced to a pathetic whimpering excuse for a man-child, Sarah said, "Casey, I think he's learned his lesson."

"Have you learned your lesson, moron?"

Lester made a squeaking noise and Casey moved away from him.

"Now we're even," he grunted in my direction.

I grinned. "Fair enough."

Not surprisingly, the volleyball game was forfeited and my team declared champion. Jeff and Lester's band, _Jeffster!_, had been scheduled to play to close out the day, but considering their lead vocalist couldn't make a sound, the picnic came to an abrupt end instead.

All in all, I had to admit it had been a lot more fun than I'd anticipated, what with giving Anna food poisoning and watching Casey beat the holy hell out of Jeff and Lester and everything.

"Don't forget your, ah, shirt," Morgan said, holding it out to me.

"Thanks." I accepted, pulling it over my head before asking, "Did you have a good time today?"

"Yeah, the best."

"You mean the best considering Anna had to leave early," I clarified for him.

"Um, right."

I smiled. "Do you need a ride home?"

"Nah, it's okay, I brought my bike."

"Alright. See you tomorrow then." I kissed his cheek, before walking off with my picnic blanket to catch up to Sarah.

"So, better than Vegas?" Sarah asked.

"More unpredictable," I answered. "Which is saying a lot."

As I drove home, I thought Sarah's words over. Yeah, maybe my wanderlust hadn't been quenched, and I really did need to go to Vegas sometime considering I'd never been, but at least I couldn't say the day had been monotonous. For now, that would have to be enough.

* * *

So, AJ's starting to get a bit restless, wonder how that'll play out? Let me know what you thought in a review, pretty please with your favourite Chuck character on top, & I might even post another chapter over the long weekend! If not, I'll have it for you for sure by Tuesday. ~A.C.


	14. Counterparts

Alright, so I was feeling generous. Usual disclaimer applies, & please please please take a look at the other two parts of this series, CVTCS: Beth (told in the POV of the CIA's finest & Casey's roommate, Beth Daniels) & CVTCS: Beth & AJ (the 3rd person POV co-ops of the storyline), posted under Renegade. Girl13's account. Also, thanks to Dimonah Tralon for the review; funny you should mention Lester's stupidity ;). Oh, & this is based on episode 2.17 of Chuck, Chuck versus the Predator, so there are obviously spoilers for that. Now, without further ado, enjoy!

* * *

It was a Monday, when I walked in with the guys to find the Buy More had been covered in toilet paper. What the duck?

Apparently the duck was actually a group of freakishly cloned douche bags from the Beverly Hills Buy More, pissed that our store was getting the new Roark laptops before theirs. Cleaning up was fast becoming a pain, but at least I was getting to spend the morning with Morgan and away from Anna. She should go on vacation with her parents more often.

"So what's the deal with you and these Beverly Hills guys anyway?"

Morgan shook his head. "They're just so, un-Buymorian, you know? Their store runs like a well oiled machine, and they all wear identical uniforms and smiles, and there's not even anything moldy in their break room fridge! I mean, how is that even possible?"

I tried very hard not to laugh and failed miserably. "Are all of their employees sober too? The horror!"

"It's not funny, AJ," Morgan said, though he still cracked a smile. "There's a long standing rivalry between the Burbank and Beverly Hills branches. Especially with that guy Barkley."

"Right, sorry." And then, because I couldn't help myself, I asked, "So have you heard from Anna?"

"Nah, she's still a bit angry that we didn't end up moving in together. And that I didn't leave the picnic with her last week."

I tried not to grin too much. We'd just finished cleaning up the last of the toilet in our area when Lester all but ran over, skipping like an exceptionally giddy schoolgirl.

"Morgan, there's something you've got to see." After a moment's hesitation, he added, "You too, AJ."

-Chuck Me-

"Lester, why the hell are you dragging me into the men's room? Let go!" I pulled my arm away from him, glaring.

"Do you want to see or not?" He impatiently waved me in after Morgan, looking around first to make sure we weren't being followed. Then he pointed at the handicapped stall, which had an out-of-order sign on it. "Come into Jeff's office."

After stating how decisively uncomfortable stepping into Jeff's office made us feel, Morgan and I entered. The stall was decked out in Buy More and hippie garb, with cold beers floating in the loo. Ewwwww.

"Okay, I'm leaving," Morgan said, and I made a move to follow him. Before we could get out, though, Lester closed the stall door and Jeff pulled out the coolest looking laptop ever. Holy Hannah, it was beautiful. I forgot my disgust and moved to take a closer look.

I tuned the guys out as I studied the sheer mastery of it. Oddly enough, the style was somewhat familiar, though I couldn't place it. However, I tuned in again when Lester hit the power button and _IDENTIFY_ popped up on the otherwise black screen in an old school font.

Lester panicked immediately, but Morgan said, "Just say you can't identify."

Doing as he was told, Lester typed in, _WE CAN'T IDENTIFY_.

_WHY? ARE YOU IN DANGER? _The computer asked.

Leaning over Lester's shoulder, Morgan typed, _YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT_.

_PINPOINT TARGET FOR AIR SUPPORT_, it responded and the screen changed to an aerial map.

"Nicely played," I said to Morgan.

He grinned at the compliment.

"It's a simulator game," Jeff said. "Who should we target?"

"Buy More."

Jeff typed in the address, and an all too realistic view of a predator flying over the Burbank streets came up.

"The details are incredible," I said.

The others voiced their agreement. After a moment, I said, "Hold on, why are we trying to blow up our own store? Shouldn't we be targeting the Beverly Hills Buy More instead?" With the guys nodding their approval, I typed in the new address and the drone changed direction.

"You know, AJ, at first I had my doubts about you, but now I can see you're truly one of us," Lester said.

Unsure of whether I should be pleased or disturbed, I said, "Um, thanks?"

"No, seriously. I mean, Anna wouldn't have ever ventured into Jefferson's office."

I risked a half-glance at Morgan before saying, "You're comparing me to Anna?"

"You're a girl and she's a girl," Jeff offered.

"Yes, thank you for that, Jeffrey," Lester said, "but they're also both Nerd Herders of similar stature and with similarly fine legs and both happen to be willing to speak to us."

I turned fully to Morgan, who had busied himself with his phone. "And what do you think, Morgan? Do your girlfriend and I have anything in common?"

He shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "I don't know, I mean you're both…good with computers."

The heat started to rise in my cheeks. "Who's better? At fixing computers, I mean."

Before he had time to formulate an answer, his phone rang. "It's Chuck again," he said, and took the call. "Hey, Chuck."

There was some frenzied conversation on Chuck's end, before Morgan hung up, and made a grab for the computer. "Sorry, Chuck wants this back, gotta go get it to him."

Lester clung to the computer. "No way, it's mine, you're not taking it."

Morgan threw me a desperate look. Thinking fast, I took Lester's face in my hands and kissed him soundly.

"Why do you always get the girls?" Jeff complained to his friend.

Rather than answer, Lester moved his hands away from the laptop and to my shoulders. The millisecond I realized he'd relinquished his vice grip on the computer, I pulled away to face a dumbstruck Morgan and yelled, "Grab it, Morgan!"

He finally reacted just as Chuck threw the door open. Pausing momentarily at the sight of me standing so close to Lester, who still had his hands on my shoulders, he then snatched the computer and typed in a few things before shutting it down.

I pushed Lester's hands off and wiped my mouth on my sleeve. "Hey, Chuck."

-Chuck Me-

Trying to explain would have been useless, especially after Sarah, Beth, and Casey had all burst into the bathroom in a huff and then Big Mike had caught the whole lot of us trying to sneak out unnoticed, so instead I just admitted defeat and went home. On the way, I stopped at a convenience store and bought their entire aisle's worth of oral sanitation products, so that I spent the next two hours brushing, flossing, and swishing mouthwash. Kissing Lester had been like kissing a fish, only way worse. What in the name of Ali Baba had possessed me to do that?

In response to my silent question, there was a knock at my door. Still swirling Listerine in my mouth, I opened the door to find Morgan, bike and all, waiting there for me. I gestured for him to come in, went to spit in the sink, and came back. "Hey, what do you need now, for me to smell Jeff's feet or something?"

He shook his head. "I never asked you to do that."

"Yeah, well, shows how good I am under pressure I suppose. Great Odin above, that was disgusting."

"Does that mean there won't be a repeat performance? Lester'll be so disappointed," Morgan said with a chuckle.

I punched him in the shoulder. "Shut up, if you just came over here to tease me then you might as well leave. I've still got a dozen Disney princess toothbrushes, three packets of glow in the dark floss, and half a bottle of Winter's Breeze flavored mouthwash to get through."

He held up his hands in defeat. "Fine, fine, I just wanted to let you know I sorted things out with Big Mike and Chuck, and swore Jeff and Lester to secrecy, so you can show your face around the Buy More again."

I smiled. "Gee thanks. Anyway, I'll see you later?"

He nodded, and let himself out. Shaking my head in general disbelief, I went back to the bathroom to continue my oral cleansing.

-Chuck Me-

I'd been dead asleep when Morgan had called, saying there was trouble at the store and to get my butt over there pronto. Running into the store, I found Morgan sitting on the counter of the Nerd Herd desk with Big Mike standing next to him and Emmett sitting in Chuck's chair, an ice pack pressed to his face.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"It was a highly professional team," Emmett said. "There must have been thirty, forty of them. They stormed the store and they took the new laptop."

"What do you think? Barkley? Whoever did this broke some serious laws," Morgan said.

Big Mike nodded. "It's Barkley alright. I can smell him all over this."

"Now guys, let's think this through," I started, determined to be the voice of reason, but was interrupted by Jeff and Lester running into the store.

"Came as soon as we heard," Lester panted.

"Heard what? Nobody called you," Big Mike said.

Lester stumbled over an obviously poorly-improvised explanation about being at the tavern, but I didn't bother paying attention. As it were, it was taking all of my willpower not to run from the store in embarrassment.

"I'm calling the police," Emmett said, hand already on the red Nerd Herd phone.

"Put that phone down," Big Mike told him.

"We can't let them get away with this, okay?" Morgan said. "We can't be calm and collected this time." He looked around at us, his eyes settling on me.

Despite my misgivings, I nodded.

Addressing Emmett, Big Mike said, "Let me see it."

Emmett pulled the ice pack away, revealing a nasty bruise spanning the entirety of his left cheek. Daaaang, that was just plain embarrassing.

"No, Morgan, we will remain calm and collected," Big Mike said. "We will be calm and collected when we go to Beverly Hills tonight and we will be calm and collected when we use my manager's code to get into the store and then we will be calm and collected when we burn that mother loving store to the ground!"

The other Buymorians cheered, and I right along with them. Where was stupid Anna Wu now, hmmm?

Dressed in matching Buy More jumpsuits, we walked through our Buy More shoulder to shoulder. As we walked towards the exit, Morgan asked, "Sir, what exactly are we doing here?"

"Payback," Big Mike answered.

"Does payback involve illegal activity?" I asked.

Big Mike nodded. "Damn well better."

-Chuck Me-

We agreed to drive over into two cars, so Morgan and I went in my old Herder and Jeff and Lester went with Big Mike in one of the other Herders. I drove, with Morgan in the passenger's seat. As we headed down the freeway, I said, "You know this is a bad idea, don't you?"

He nodded. "Yeah. But when had that ever stopped us?"

"Good point. So, why'd you call me anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

I made the turn towards Beverly Hills before answering. "I mean Emmett called Big Mike, who I assume was at your mom's house and therefore called you. So why'd you call me?"

"Oh. I guess I figured we needed a voice of reason."

I nodded. "Fair enough. So, you know you never answered my question earlier."

Morgan stared out the window. "What question?"

"Who's better at fixing computers? Me or Anna?"

"Oh well, I don't know, I mean you're both good, but…definitely you. Just don't tell Anna I said that."

I beamed as I turned into the Beverly Hills Buy More parking lot. "I won't."

-Chuck Me-

Entering his code into the keypad outside of the Beverly Hills Buy More and leading the way inside, Big Mike said, "Okay, I shut off the security cameras, we're clear."

The store was clean and shiny and state-of-the-art. There were life-sized cutouts of the employees all over the place. It was kind of creepy.

"My God, it's beautiful," Emmett said. "Uh, it's so clean and fresh like—"

"Douches," Jeff supplied.

I nodded, for once in agreement with Jeff. "No joke."

"You know what we could do, we could draw little funny faces on them, how about that?" Morgan suggested.

Personally, I thought that was a humorous idea, but Big Mike said simply, "No." Then he started to open up a violin case.

"What's that?" Lester asked.

"My fiddle," Big Mike answered.

"You're going to play music?" Jeff said, more confused than usual.

Big Mike pulled out a baseball bat. "Oh yeah."

Morgan and I exchanged a concerned look.

"Standby here everybody," Morgan said and the two of us pulled the big man aside.

"Um, Big Mike, are you sure this is a good idea?" I said cautiously. "I mean, you're letting your emotions control you."

"They hit one of my men," he shot back.

"True," Morgan said. "Then let Emmett have the bat, let him take his revenge on the store."

"That sounds fair," I added.

Emmett, who had been listening in, extended a hand. "Here, I can be destructive."

With our encouragement, Big Mike handed Emmett the bat, which he immediately fumbled.

Picking it up, Emmett spun it around, almost cracking Lester's skull open in the process, and said, "So what to hit first? Aha, how about that?" He swung at the cardboard cutout of Barkley, and missed completely. "Alright, one more time, with feeling."

He swung hard, hitting Barkley's head off and collapsing the nearest display, which fell into its neighbor and so on and so forth until the entire store was in shambles.

"Of course, this _would _be the moment in which you'd stop being a wuss," I snapped.

"Oh God," Emmett groaned, looking around at the carnage.

"Okay team, we should run now," Big Mike said. We followed him out, agreeing to meet back at our store.

-Chuck Me-

"I love the smell of Burbank in the morning! Smells like victory!" Big Mike said as we all high-fived and whatnot. Our celebrations were cut short by the arrival of the Beverly Hills crew, led by Barkley, came sauntering in. "We know what you did," he said.

Big Mike stepped up to face him. "Well do you now?"

"You went too far, Michael. I'm calling the cops."

"No you won't," Big Mike said. "That ain't the Buy More way."

"What?"

"You know the rules. They cut their prices by ten percent, we cut ours by fifteen. They give away toasters, we give away microwaves. They put their hands on one of ours, we find their assistant manager and—" Morgan laid a hand on his shoulder to pull him back. "You get the picture, don't you?"

Barkley shook his head and backed off, retreating with his men. "We're leaving. But, speaking for our store and the city of Beverly Hills as a whole, we do not approve of your methods."

"Well you're not from Burbank," Morgan said.

I added, "Here we take care of our own."

Barkley childishly dropped a few DVDs on their way out.

"I think this merits a celebratory drink," I said after a moment, pulling out a six-pack of beers from behind the Nerd Herd desk. Catching Lester's astonished face, I said with a smirk, "What? You thought I didn't know about your secret stash?"

Clinking our bottles together, I started off the toasts with, "To the Burbank Buy More, may it triumph always."

"To Emmett," Big Mike added. "Who seems to have finally grown some balls."

"And to AJ," Morgan said. "Welcome, officially, to the gang."

Simultaneously, we all took a large swig, and I managed to keep the nastiness down. After all, if I was going to be one of the guys, then I was going to have to get used to drinking beer.

Pulling away from the others, I said to Morgan, "Thanks for your toast."

"Thanks for backing me up."

"Don't mention it," I said. "We make a pretty good team."

"Yeah, we do. Cheers."

I tapped the neck of my bottle against his. "Cheers."

* * *

So love it? Hate it? Lemme know! The next drabble's a longer 1, & a pretty important 1 for the grand scheme of things, so I'll try & have it for you soon. Any guesses on what it's about? ~A.C.


	15. SpiesRUs, Part 1

Alright guys, so I'm so crazy excited about posting this drabble, even though it's been a pain to edit. It'll be another 1 posted in pieces (at least 4), & I can't promise on daily posts (mostly because I'm still editing), but I'll do my best. So, usual disclaimer, & there are definite spoilers for the latter part of season 2 (this particular section is based somewhat on Chuck versus the Lethal Weapon). Lastly, remember to check out the other CVTCS stories (posted under Renegade. Girl13's account) & thanks as always to Dimonah Tralon for the review! Enjoy!

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**Burbank, California 1992**

_It was a hot summer day, and I was skating around and around the fountain outside of Gran's apartment, not really paying attention until I ran into something solid and went flying, my knee colliding with the fountain's edge. The moment I realized it was gushing blood, I started bawling._

_"Oh no, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry! Ellie, help!"_

_A girl came running out of nowhere, armed with a first aid kit and a comforting smile. My sobs subsided as she wrapped her arms around me and made shushing noises._

_"It's okay, you're gonna be just fine. Chuck, what happened?"_

_The boy, Chuck, who'd been hovering nearby, motioned from his fallen over bike to me then back again, before shrugging helplessly. Ellie, however, seemed to understand as she cleaned my knee with a moist toilette. _

_"You must be Mrs. Abbott's granddaughter; she told us you were coming to stay the summer with her. I'm Ellie Bartowski and this is my little brother, Chuck."_

_I brushed away my remaining tears before answering, "I'm AJ."_

_Ellie put a healthy dose of antiseptic on my knee, then stuck a Band-Aid on it, making it good as new. Afterwards, the three of us were left staring a bit awkwardly at each other._

_"Do you like video games?" Chuck finally asked._

_"Um, I don't know, I've never really played any. But I'd love to try sometime."_

_"Well I just got the new Legend of Zelda; wanna come test it out with me?"_

_"Sure! Let me just go tell Gran where I'll be!"_

-Chuck Me-

I skated towards the Orange Orange in my new roller skates, doing a few loop-de-loops for kicks. I'd parked as far as possible from the shop and had slipped my skates on. Lately, it had been the only way to keep myself entertained. I was nearing the Orange Orange when I noticed a bloody handsome guy limping towards the shop. Now, when I said bloody, I didn't mean it in the British sense (though the dude definitely had an English vibe about him). I meant it in the thousands of paper cuts, doused in red bodily fluid, this guy belonged in a hospital sort of way. Didn't detract from his hotness though. I hung back and watched him walk into the shop, go behind the counter, and straight into the freezer. What the…?

Rolling into the shop, I called out for Sarah or Beth, assuming they'd show up. They didn't. _Weird_. Helping myself to an extra large bowl of Inscrutable Indian Gooseberry, I called out one last time before skating out of the shop with my yogurt and heading to the Buy More.

The automatic doors opened for so I glided by, narrowly avoiding a man with two boys and two girls who was exiting the store, and coming in for a smooth landing at the Nerd Herd desk, under which Morgan was for some reason hiding.

"Hey, Morgan. What are you doing hiding behind the Nerd Herd desk?"

He jumped, startled, and bumped his head. "What? Huh? Oh, AJ. I thought you were Anna."

Since he was showing no signs of standing up, I knelt down next to him. "Why are you hiding from Anna?"

"Long story. What's up? You look preoccupied."

"Do I? Just saw something weird is all."

I went ahead and put down my messenger bag in my seat, before joining Morgan under the desk. Pulling out a spare spoon from the drawer above me, I handed it to Morgan and held out my yogurt where he could help himself.

"Thanks. So what it'd you see that was weird?"

I didn't answer, thinking as I ate a few spoonfuls of yogurt before asking finally, "What do you know about Sarah?"

"Sarah? Sarah Walker? Chuck's girlfriend Sarah?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Morgan, that Sarah. You've known her for what, almost two years? Yet what do you really know about her?"

"Um, not that much I guess."

"Exactly! I'm telling you, she's not just a yogurt shop girl. And Casey! I mean, why on earth would a guy like him work at the Buy More?"

"Um, because he needs the money?"

I shook my head. "It just doesn't make sense. They're involved in something…bigger than electronics retail and yogurt sales. Beth too. And Chuck."

Morgan let out a weak laugh. "AJ, you haven't been near Jeff's locker lately, have you?"

"What? No, of course not. It's just, they're not who they say they are. They're cops, maybe, or even spies…"

Looking at me like he was concerned for my mental health, Morgan said, "Maybe you should take the rest of the day off."

I sighed. Maybe he was right; perhaps I was over thinking things. The bloody guy could've been wearing a costume, after all, and it's not like I really had any proof of anything. Now if I could get proof…

"Yeah, you know, I think I will go home. I'll see you later, good luck with your Anna situation, whatever it is."

Patting him on the back, I left him what was left of my yogurt, which wasn't much, and skate back out of the store, holding tight to my messenger bag.

Back home, I pulled my laptop out of my bag and opened a new webpage. If my suspicions were right, it would take some serious hacking to get to the bottom of things, but it was worth a shot to try an easy solution. I googled _Sarah Walker_. **0 Results Found**, Google concluded. Intrigued, I typed in John Casey. Again, no results. Next, I tried Beth Daniels and last Charles Bartowski. Still nothing. How interesting. I mean, Google _always_ has results. Cracking my knuckles, I set to work searching the internet for any signs of Sarah, Casey, Beth, and Chuck…

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Anybody guessed yet what this is all leading up to? ;) Review if you get the chance, & I'll try & have more for you soon. ~A.C.


	16. SpiesRUs, Part 2

I was going to wait another day or 2 to post this chapter, but I was having a not so good day & your reviews & support cheered me up, so I'm posting early in celebration of your awesomeness! :) So thanks to Dimonah Tralon & retropanda37, special thanks, & I'm glad you're excited & enjoying reading this as much as I enjoy writing it. This chapter has spoilers especially for Chuck versus the Broken Heart. So, without further ado, Part 2:

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Three weeks later, I still hadn't found anything. In my not finding anything, I had learned two things however. First, I was still a top notch hacker, even though I'd been out of the game for years. Second, whatever my friends were involved in, it was big, real big, big enough to be classified at the highest level. My working theory was that they were all CIA, and that they'd recently recruited Chuck, probably to do computer analyses for them.

Deep in thought, I entered the yogurt shop and upon finding the counter unattended, stepped around it to serve myself a cup of Doubly Dangerous Dragonfruit.

"What do you think you're doing?"

I turned, fishing out the serving spoon I'd dropped into the bucket of yogurt from surprise, and was faced by an unknown woman in an Orange Orange uniform, eying me critically.

"Just who do think you—" she began, but was cut off by Sarah and Beth emerging from the back.

"Oh, hey AJ," Beth said with a nod.

"This is Alex Forrest, our new temporary yogurt girl. Alex, meet our friend, AJ Abbott."

We shook hands, though she didn't smile. Instead, she turned back to Sarah and Beth, and said, "She hasn't paid."

A smile flickered on Sarah's face before it set into worry lines once more.

Beth, however, flat out broke into laughter. "Relax, AJ never pays, she benefits from my employee perks since I don't like yogurt."

The new girl pursed her lips but refrained from commenting. I smiled at her sweetly, and scooped a spoonful of yogurt into my mouth in triumph.

The new girl, Forrest, shot me a pointed look, so with a wave in Beth and Sarah's direction, I said, "Guess I'd better get going. See you gals later."

I'd only had a chance to serve myself half a bowl before that Forrest woman had gotten on my case, so by the time I reached the Buy More I was out of yogurt. Annoying woman. I bet she was a spy too, looking to join the gang's elite team or something…

"Hey, I need some advice."

I looked up to see Morgan standing in front of the Nerd Herd desk. "Now what have you done?"

He shook his head. "Nothing…yet. I need your help convincing Chuck to let us have Awesome's bachelor party at the Buy More."

I laughed. "No way he'll agree to that."

On cue, Chuck showed up. "Hey, AJ."

"Hey, Chuck. Morgan wants me to convince you to hold Devon's stag party here."

"That sounds fine," Chuck said, looking distracted. "Listen, Morgan buddy, do you think you can get it all set up by tonight?"

"Um, sure thing, Chuck. Thanks!"

"Yeah, yeah, no problem. I'll talk to you both later, alright?"

He left before Morgan or I could say anything.

"How'd you do that?" Morgan asked.

"Do what?"

"Convince him, man! I've been trying to talk him into it all day, and then you ask and suddenly he loves the idea. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you'd replaced me as his best friend."

I smirked, thinking back to another time when Morgan had made a similar claim.

-Chuck Me-

_It was about a month since I'd met the Bartowskis and I playing video games with Chuck in their living room. A short dark-haired boy about our age unabashedly let himself into the house, and stopped dead when he saw me._

_"Ah! I've been replaced by a girl!"_

_"Morgan, you're back!" Chuck said, pausing his game to go greet his friend. I followed behind him, suddenly shy, but Chuck was quick to pull me forward. "Morgan, this is AJ, Mrs. Abbott's granddaughter. AJ, this is Morgan, my best buddy. Remember I told you he was on vacation with his family?"_

_We shook hands awkwardly, with Chuck watching us._

_"So, AJ, you play video games?" Morgan asked suspiciously._

_I nodded, but before I could say anything, Chuck beat me to it. "Yeah, she's a natural! Wait til you see, Morgan."_

_We moved back over to the Super Nintendo, and Chuck handed his controller to Morgan. We'd been playing Mario Cart, so we each chose our characters (Morgan chose Mario, I chose Yoshi) and started the Mushroom Cup._

_After I'd wiped the floor with him, Morgan handed the controller back to Chuck and turned to me. "Okay, I admit it, you're pretty cool for a girl."_

_I grinned. "Thanks. You're not all that bad for a boy either."_

-Chuck Me-

I shook my head, both at the memory and at the idea of me replacing Morgan. "Don't think there's ever a chance I could replace you, but you know, Harry and Ron would have never gotten anywhere without Hermione."

Laughing, Morgan said, "That's true. Okay, well, I'm going to go tell Jeff and Lester _Operation Bachelor Party_ is on."

"Okay, you guys have fun." It was only after he'd left that a thought occurred to me. What if Chuck had changed his mind so suddenly because it had to do with his spy business? Hmmmm, well there was only one way to find out. I had to crash the bachelor party.

-Chuck Me-

Getting in was easy enough; I just offered to lock up for Emmett and hid in the women's bathroom. It was sneaking around once the party started that was tricky. In the end, I hid behind the customer desk, almost choking on my beer (which I'd managed to nick before the party started) when Jeff's sister and her companions made their entrance.

Nothing much happened for a while, other than the guys getting drunk quick, and I was starting to think I was paranoid when a certain Orange Orange employee made her grand entrance dressed as a stripper, and proceeded to basically assault Awesome. What the hey? I watched her pull Devon into the home theater room and close the blinds. Something was definitely off, but it's not like I could investigate further without getting caught. Time to make my exit.

Once the guys hit a certain level of intoxication, it was easy enough. When I got home, I ran a search for Alex Forrest and wasn't really surprised when 0 results came up. Guess I'd have to extend my search.

I hacked my way through several government databases for most of the night, determined to find…something. But there was nothing to be found.

When it was late enough to be considered morning, I decided enough was enough. After breakfast I went over to Casa Casey-Daniels, determined to get the truth out of Beth. We'd both arrived in Burbank around the same time and had become good friends over the course of the last year. Surely, if I told her what I knew, she'd be honest with me…right?

I was about to knock when I noticed three people crossing the courtyard towards Casa Bartowski. Two of them were Chuck and Sarah. But the third, the third was Chuck's father, Mr. B. The man who had mentored me through my adolescence, who had taught me practically everything I knew about computers and technology. The man I'd been helping Chuck look for over the last four months.

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I'm such a Papa B. fan. :) Love it? Hate it? Lemme know! ~A.C.


	17. SpiesRUs, Part 3

So, after a stressful weekend, I thought it'd be a good idea to post the next piece of this, even though that means I've really got get to work editing Part 4. Thanks to Dimonah Tralon & retropanda37 for the reviews; I promise, answers are coming! :) This chapter is loosely based on & therefore has spoilers for Chuck versus the Dream Job. Enjoy!

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_Ellie was making sandwiches for lunch while Chuck and I watched TV. It was during a commercial break that the door to Mr. Bartowski's office, which was _always_ closed, opened and he came out, turned to Ellie and then to Chuck and then finally to me, and without comment went to help Ellie finish making lunch._

_"Is that your _dad_, Chuck?" I whispered._

_Chuck nodded. "Uh-huh."_

_"Does he know who I am?"_

_He shook his head. "Nope."_

_"I should probably go introduce myself then." Jumping up, I went to the kitchen and held out my hand to the man. "Hi, I'm AJ, sir, AJ Abbott."_

_He shook my hand firmly, looking impressed. "Well nice to meet you. I'm Stephen Bartowski, Eleanor and Charles' father. Abbott, like Mrs. Abbott across the courtyard?"_

_"Yes, sir, she's my grandmother."_

_"I see. And what does AJ stand for?"_

_"…Avariella January."_

_Mr. Bartowski grimaced in sympathy. "Well, how about I call you Ava then? Is that alright?"_

_I nodded._

_"Excellent." Taking the plate of sandwiches from Ellie, he led the way back to the living room, taking a seat on Chuck's left while I sat back on Chuck's right. "Now Ava, do you know how this television works?"_

_"Oh Dad, not again…" Ellie protested from the armchair, but Mr. Bartowski paid her no mind as I shook my head._

_"A practical television system needs to take luminance, chrominance, synchronization, and audio signals, and broadcast them over a radio transmission. The transmission system must include a means of channel selection…"_

_I was captivated as Mr. Bartowski explained all the pieces needed for a television to work. Chuck, who'd probably heard the whole spiel several times already, wasn't quite as interested, though he still paid enough attention to chip in to the discourse every now and then. Ellie simply rolled her eyes. When he finished, I asked, "So the video carrier is de-mod-u-la-ted to make a combined video signal?"_

_"That's right."_

_"Cool! So can you explain how the remote control works too?"_

_Mr. Bartowski's grin widened. "Ava, you've come to the right place."_

-Chuck Me-

"Mr. Bartowski?" I shouted as I ran across the courtyard.

He swung around, Sarah and Chuck moving with him, and grinned as he recognized me, letting me pull him into a hug. "Ava Abbott, what are you doing here?"

"I live here," I said as I pulled back. "Well, across the street anyway, in my Gran's old place. What are _you _doing here?"

"Oh boy. Well—"

Chuck cleared his throat, cutting off Mr. B. and getting our attentions. "AJ, do you want to come in for a while? The more the merrier."

From the way he said it, I gathered Ellie probably didn't know her dad was back, and shook my head. "No, that's alright, Chuck, I was actually just heading home. Mr. B., it was great seeing you again; feel free to stop by any time."

With a wave and a smile, I walked off. A few heartbeats later, Sarah joined me.

"I thought it should probably just be family first," she said.

"How'd you guys find him anyway?" I asked.

"It was all Chuck. He ran some computer program and finally got a trace on Mr. Bartowski."

See, now I knew Sarah was lying. For one thing, I'd helped Chuck design a search program to look for his dad months ago, with no success. And for another, just a few days ago Chuck had admitted to me that he doubted he'd be able to find his father in time for Ellie's wedding.

Still, now wasn't the time to call Sarah out, so instead I just nodded.

"Chuck says you and Mr. Bartowski were pretty close once?" Sarah asked. She'd walked me all the way to my door, but neither of us made a move to go inside.

"Yeah, he was my mentor growing up, the one who taught me all about computer programming and whatnot. Closest thing to a parental role model I've ever had."

"Well, I'm glad Chuck found him. Not just for Ellie, but for all of you," Sarah said.

I nodded again. "Me too. Thanks. You know, for encouraging Chuck to keep searching and all."

For a second, I thought Sarah might confess to playing a bigger role in finding Mr. B., but she didn't. No longer in the mood to prod Beth for information, I instead went back to my hacking until it was time for my shift at the Buy More.

-Chuck Me-

"What do you _mean_ he just left?"

"AJ, you've got to calm down. Chuck's having a really tough time with this, and we need all hands on board for when Ellie finds out."

It was a couple of days after Mr. B's return and I'd been in making dinner when Sarah had showed up, looking positively morose. Now we were sitting at my kitchen table, my dinner slowly getting colder on the switched off stove.

"He can't have just left, Sarah. He wouldn't do that to Chuck, to Ellie. No."

"He's done it before," she said in a low voice.

I sniffled, thinking about how I hadn't even really had much of a chance to talk with him yet, and wiped my arm over my face. "I always told Chuck there had to be a reason his dad left," I said. "Sarah, please, please, don't lie to me. He can't have just gone for no reason."

Sarah bit her lip, then said, "Maybe…maybe he'll be back in time for the wedding."

I perked up instantly. "Sarah, what do you know?"

She looked me in the eye, and though her brows were furrowed, her jaw was set, and her eyes were completely unreadable as she answered, "Nothing. But, there's always hope, right?"

I let my shoulders sag, playing the role of the defeated individual, though I was certain there was more to Mr. B.'s sudden disappearance than Sarah was letting on. "Yeah, there's always hope. C'mon, we'd better go check on Ellie."

-Chuck Me-

As expected, Ellie had not taken her father's sudden departure well, and I'd taken over trying to comfort her after Chuck and Awesome's failure to do so. Somehow, I had a feeling I knew just what Ellie needed.

"Don't cry, El. He'll be back, I know it."

"How can you still stick up for him?"

I shrugged. "I have faith in him."

Ellie threw her hands up in frustration. We were in the living room of her apartment, sitting together on the couch.

"Why, AJ, why? You said the same thing when he left the first time, and look how long it took him to come back, only to up and leave again right away! Just because you hero-worship the man doesn't mean he's coming back."

I flinched, though I knew Ellie didn't really mean it. It was rare for her to lose control, but right now she honestly needed to.

"You're right. I've always respected and trusted your dad and I'll continue to do so. But just you wait, he'll be back."

"No, he won't be."

I was spared from further argument with Chuck calling for me from his room. "AJ, can you come in here for a moment?"

Making my way into his room, I said, "What is it, Chuck?"

"Do you really think antagonizing her right now is the best approach?"

He patted a spot on his bed, and I took a seat next to him.

"She's got a lot of anger, Chuck, and no one to channel it at. If letting her take just a fraction of her frustrations out on me will make her feel better, then yes, I think it's the best approach."

"Well listen to you, all grown up and wise," he teased. "Seriously though, I need a favor."

"Name it."

"I might have to leave suddenly sometime over the next week. If I do, will you please keep an eye on Ellie for me? I mean, Awesome's awesome, but he doesn't really understand when it comes to dysfunctional families."

"You're going after your dad, aren't you?"

"What? No no no, I'm just, you know, thinking of going on a weekend trip with Sarah. To de-stress. Because, with my dad leaving and all, I'm a bit stressed out."

"Uh-huh. Riiight. Listen, if you need any help, with anything at all, don't hesitate to ask, alright?"

"Thanks."

I pulled him into a hug. "Don't mention it. Just find your dad."

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So, there you have it, some interesting interaction between the AJ & the Bartowskis, all leading up to...something XD There are going to be 2 more parts to this particular drabble, & then the big Chuck versus the Ring co-op with LB, & then I'll be moving right along to Season 3! Anybody else excited? Please review if you get the chance! ~A.C.


	18. SpiesRUs, Part 4

Apologizies for my tardiness in posting this, for one thing I got stuck in my editing & for another I'm stalling so that LB catches up on her posting before we both hit the breaks on our individual stories so that we can publish our massive co-op , based on Chuck Versus the Ring, which I'll tell you right now is going to be crazy fun. So please, check out the other CVTCS stories posted under Renegade. Girl13's account, I promise you it's worth it! Anyway, this is the first of 2 parts based on Chuck Versus the Colonel, so there are spoilers for that. Oh, & thanks to Dimonah Tralon & retropanda37 for the reviews :)**

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Sure enough, Chuck and Sarah had gone AWOL… a week before the wedding. To make matters worse, Ellie had told me Casey had stopped in, asking questions about where Chuck was.

"You look preoccupied."

I looked up from my usual perch on the fountain, to find Beth, arms crossed, standing next to me.

"Oh, hey." I motioned for her to take a seat, which she did. "I was just thinking about… the Buy More. What's up?"

"AJ," she asked a bit hesitantly, "do you know where Chuck and Sarah are?"

I shook my head. "No, sorry."

"Are you sure? Chuck didn't say anything to you?"

"Yes, I'm sure." I pursed my lips, annoyed. "Why, are you and Casey planning on dragging him and Sarah back home before they have a chance to find Mr. B.?"

Beth raised an eyebrow. "Why do you say that?" she said, not quite able to keep the surprise out of her voice.

I shrugged. "Nothing, really, but I'm not an idiot. Chuck wouldn't have run off unless he went looking for his father."

"Maybe, but why would you think John and I were planning on stopping him and Sarah?"

I gave her a 'you've got to be kidding me' look, but remained silent.

After a moment, Beth seemed to give up, and with a sigh stood and left me to my thoughts once more.

-Chuck Me-

The next day, I was sitting around the Buy More, disgruntled without my daily yogurt since the Orange Orange was mysteriously closed. My eyes were starting to glaze over, so I decided to go get a cup of coffee from the break room. There I found Awesome talking to Jeff and Lester, crowded around an open locker. How odd.

"Hey, Awesome. What are you doing here?"

"AJ, did you know about this?"

"About what?"

He passed me a notebook. I recognized the handwriting as Casey's, chronicling Chuck's daily activities in painstaking detail. What in the name of Hecate…?

"Definitely not. What the heck is this?"

"Casey's perving on Chuck," Lester said.

"No way. Casey's not a stalker," I said, surprising myself. Sure, the guy and I didn't exactly get along, but none of my research on him and the others pointed to him being a creeper.

"Well then how do you explain his Chuck diary?" Lester said.

"And all of this," Jeff added. "Keys. Duct tape. High-grade chloroform. From one stalker to another, I'm impressed."

"There has to be a reasonable explanation," I insisted.

Awesome asked, "Do you guys think this has something to do with Chuck missing?"

Jeff and Lester shrugged. I shooed them out, wanting to talk to Devon without them around. "Seriously man, you're not buying the stalker angle, are you?"

"I don't know, but I'm getting to the bottom of this," Awesome said.

"What are going to do?"

"I'm going to check his place out."

I nodded. That actually wasn't a half-bad idea. "Then wait for me; I'm coming with."

-Chuck Me-

_Chuck, Morgan, and I had biked to the movies, intent on watching Alien 3. We bought three tickets for Batman Returns, not to mention obscene amounts of popcorn and candy and snuck in without issue. It was when we were leaving after the movie that things got interesting._

_"Chuck? AJ? Morgan?"_

_I jumped, raining the leftovers of my popcorn on everyone in our general vicinity. Still, it was better than Chuck, who dropped his soda and soaked all of our Converses, or Morgan, who screamed in a girlish fashion._

_"Ellie, hey, what are you doing here?" Chuck asked as we turned to face her, trying hopelessly to look innocent. _

_"I came to see Batman Returns with a few friends," she said, motioning over her shoulder to a couple of girls from her class. "Dad said you guys had come to see it too, but I couldn't find you in the theater."_

_"Oh, well that's because we showed up late," Morgan said, "and there were no seats left."_

_"The theater was practically empty," Ellie said, hands on her hips, clearly falling into authority figure mode. "Where were you three really?"_

_"Way to go, Morgan," I muttered. "Okay, well, the truth is we saw Alien 3."_

_Ellie's eyebrows shot up. "You _what_? That's an R-rated movie!"_

_"I know, sis, and we're sorry, just please, don't tell Dad," Chuck pleaded._

_"Yeah, Ellie, promise we'll never lie to you again!" I added._

_"And we'll throw in all the candy we have left over," Morgan finished, holding out his last couple of Twizzlers._

_"Nice try, but you three are in so much trouble. Now march," she said, directing us out of the movie theater._

-Chuck Me-

I took it as a bad omen that memory came to mind when I thought of the task ahead. "I'm starting to have second thoughts about this," I said frankly to Devon.

I'd just gotten home from work, and straightaway he had insisted we go scope the house. Besides being nervous, I was also starting to feel a bit guilty; not because of Casey, but because of Beth. After all, it was her place too.

"C'mon, AJ, don't you want to know what's going on?"

Well…yeah. I followed after Devon.

Using one of the keys we'd gotten earlier from Casey's locker, Devon opened the front door, calling as entered, "John? Beth? Hello, it's your neighbors, Devon Woodcomb and AJ Abbott. Door was unlocked…"

The living room was a mesh of surveillance equipment, western memorabilia, and tributes to President Reagan.

"This is…different," I said.

Awesome moved towards the computer, and asked, "Is that Chuck's bedroom?"

I moved in closer to see, and sure enough, there was Chuck's bedroom from every angle imaginable. "Creepy."

He grabbed the computer mouse, just as I shouted, "Don't!" Immediately alarms started blaring as metal bars dropped all around us and over the windows.

"Whoa." "Blimey."

-Chuck Me-

"Okay, we just need to stay calm," Devon said.

"I told you not to touch it! And how exactly are we supposed to stay calm if we're trapped like caged animals, hmm?"

Devon was about to answer, but before he could the front door opened and in came Beth, her face unreadable.

"Hey guys."

"Hey, Beth," I said with my best toothy innocent smile. "How's it going?"

She pressed the combination on the alarm, shutting off the sirens and sending the metal bars back into the ceiling. Hands in her pockets, she moved towards us. "What are you two doing here?"

"Oh, you know, came over to borrow a cup of sugar and your door was unlocked, so we let ourselves in," I said with a nervous laugh. "Love what you've done with the place."

She smiled wryly. "Thanks."

Before Devon could chip in, Casey came running in, gun drawn.

"Relax, John, it's just AJ and Devon," Beth said. Still, Casey didn't put his gun down.

"They tripped the alarm?"

"Yup."

He grunted in annoyance.

"Whoa, put the gun away dude," Awesome said, chivalrously shielding me with his body, hands up in the air. "What's going on?"

I sidestepped him, looking Beth in the eye. "A little help please?"

After a second, she nodded and said, "You can't kill them, John." She pushed the barrel of gun downward, and Casey reluctantly holstered it.

Just then, the words "Perimeter Breach" started flashing on the closest monitor, which also started beeping quite incessantly and showed a picture of Chuck and Sarah making their way onto the premises.

Casey reached to pull out his gun again, and, thinking fast, I grabbed the nearest object, which happened to be a bronze Reagan statue, and chucked it at his head.

"AJ, what the heck?" Beth screamed, making her way over to Casey.

"He pulled a gun on us!" I said, shrugging helplessly.

Continuing the trend of insanity, Sarah ran in wielding a gun of her own, Chuck at her heels.

"What the—Sarah? Chuck? What the heck is going on here?" Devon said. He'd put his arms down, and he seemed to be going in circles, looking from me to Beth and Casey to Chuck and Sarah then back again.

As for me, I had both hands pressed over my mouth and nose, my eyes wide and horrified, glued to the fast-growing welt on Casey's forehead. Finally, I looked away and towards Chuck, and said, "I think we need to talk."

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Only 1 chapter on this drabble left now, woohoo! I'll try & have it for you a tad sooner, though no promises. The upside it that because I want to give LB sufficient time to post all of her amazing season 2 drabbles, I'm working on another short drabble to post after this 1. As always, reviews are cherished, so please consider dropping a line or 2 with your thoughts. Much obliged, ~A.C.


	19. SpiesRUs, Part 5

Well I was going to wait until LB (Renegade. Girl13) finished posting Forrest Fire on CVTCS: Beth before posting this last installment of Spies-R-Us, but she swore she'd have it done by today, so I'm going to take her at her word & go ahead & post. Usual disclaimers, spoilers for Chuck Versus the Colonel, & an extra big thank you to Dimonah Tralon for the review-I didn't see it coming either. & now, the conclusion:

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A non-spoken agreement seemed to have passed between Sarah and Beth (who had picked up Casey's gun), so that for the time being all weapons had been put down. Chairs had been pulled from around the kitchen table over to the dining room, with Beth tending to Casey's wound over on the couch. None of the rest of us commented on how Casey actually didn't seem to mind the attention.

"So what's the story?" I asked. Having the slightest inkling of what was going on, and after being reassured that Casey wasn't seriously injured, I'd become much calmer than Awesome, who was still looking quite clammy.

Casey, Beth, and Sarah seemed to debate silently, but before they could agree on what to tell us, Chuck blurted out, "I'm a high-level CIA asset and these are my handlers. For the past two years they've had to watch and protect my every move."

"Chuck, no!" Sarah said sharply.

"Moron," Casey grumbled.

Beth pinched the bridge of her nose.

"They can handle it. You can handle this, right?"

Devon simply gaped at him, but I nodded slowly. "I suspected something of the sort."

"You did?" Beth asked.

"Some things haven't been adding up. Good to know there's some truth to at least one of my conspiracy theories."

Casey rolled his eyes, with a number seven grunt; skepticism with a side of cynicism.

Ignoring him, I asked, "So can someone explain to me what's really happened to Mr. B.? He didn't just leave, did he?"

Chuck shook his head. "My dad's been captured by enemy spies. Sarah and I have been trying to rescue him."

I turned on Beth and Casey, "And you two are trying to stop them?"

Beth opened her mouth to answer, but fell silent as Casey put a hand on her shoulder, signaling he'd field the question.

"Wrong, Abbott, they ran off without us."

Sarah and Chuck gave him a questioning look.

"In fact, these numb nuts made three crucial mistakes: they didn't realize how easy it'd be for us to trace their cell phones, they didn't take nearly enough fire power with them, and they didn't ask us to join."

After a moment of shocked silence, Chuck asked, "Casey, Beth, would you like to help us rescue my father?"

"I think your father has served our country honorably and deserves to attend his daughter's wedding," Casey grunted.

"Of course we would, Chuck," Beth said.

I coughed softly, reminding them of Devon's and my presence, and said, "Hate to interrupt, but what exactly are Devon and I supposed to do now that we know your big secret?"

"Well for now, we need you both to cover for us with Ellie," Chuck said.

I nodded. "We can do that. Right, Devon?"

"Yeah, sure," he said, finally breaking his silence. It seemed he'd finally had enough time to process. "This is awesome!"

We all stood, and I gave Chuck a hug. "Good luck. And be careful." Turning to Sarah, Beth, and Casey as well, I added, "All of you."

I was halfway out the door, following Awesome, when I turned back, and said, "Sorry about your head, Casey."

He grunted, but it was a grunt I was unfamiliar with, so I took it as apology more or less accepted. With a final wave, I closed the door behind me.

"Can't believe it," I said to Devon, shaking my head.

"That they're all spies? I know, it's so awesome!"

"Oh, no, I can believe that," I said. "Been looking into it for a while. What I can't believe is that Chuck actually got to become his childhood hero."

-Chuck Me-

_"C'mon, Chuck, why can't we play something else?"_

_"Because, James Bond is awesome!"_

_I rolled my eyes. "Maybe, but why do all the girls in the movie have to be so dumb? I mean, girls can kick butt just as much as boys can."_

_"No they can't," Morgan said. "Boys are stronger than girls."_

_Standing toe-to-toe and nose-to-nose with him, I shook my fist menacingly at him. "Wanna bet?"_

_He shook his head frantically, obviously alarmed._

_Laughing, I backed off and said to Chuck, "Fine, but if we're playing this dumb game, I get to be Q. At least he's smart."_

_"Deal."_

_Sitting on the edge of the fountain with Chuck's Game Boy, I waited for him and Morgan to run off in opposite directions before turning on the device and engrossing myself in the adventures of Kevin McCallister. The police had finally shown up in the game when Chuck's voice came from the walkie-talkie watch Mr. B. had made for us._

"AJ, I mean Q, do you copy?"

_"Yes, 007, what is it?"_

"I'm pinned down by Koskov, help!"

_Sighing, I put the Game Boy away and said, "On my way."_

_I found Chuck and Morgan roughhousing in the bushes by the Bartowskis' apartment, water guns pointed at one another. Without hesitation, I grabbed the hose, pointed it at Morgan, and turned the nozzle._

_"Hey! That's not fair!" Morgan sputtered._

_Chuck laughed, and smirking I directed the hose at him._

_He gasped, then said, "Oh now you're gonna get it."_

_I took off running, the boys chasing after me and shooting at me with their water guns_.

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So now she knows; thoughts on where AJ's relationship with the spy gang goes from here? Review & let me know! :) Oh, & in case you were wondering, Kevin McCallister is the kid from _Home Alone_ & Koskov is the main villain from the James Bond movie _The Living Daylights _(starring Timothy Dalton). Also, a reminder, I'm planning on posting 1 more short drabble, & then I'm gonna hit the breaks while LB's & my massive co-op, Versus the Ring, goes online. Au revoir, ~A.C.


	20. More Than a Yogurt Shop

Hey all, here it is, the last chapter of season 2. I have to admit, it's pretty much a filler chapter, but I didn't want to make you wait a month for a new chapter, & with the huge Versus the Ring co-op going up soon (posted under Renegade. Girl13's CVTCS: Beth & AJ; don't miss it!), I'm officially hitting the breaks until after it's up. Huge thanks for reviewing, esp. to Dimonah Tralon & retropanda37; y'all are Awesome! :) Oh yeah, almost forgot, usual disclaimer, no major spoliers, & this is set just before LB's Beth versus Bridesmaid's Dress from her series CVTCS: Beth).

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I wasn't sure how they'd done it, nor was I sure I really wanted to know, but the gang had somehow managed to get Mr. B. back in time for the rehearsal dinner. It had been a huge relief to have a drama-free rehearsal, and now I was on my way to the Buy More to work my last shift before the vacation time I'd requested for the wedding kicked in. It was only when I'd walked in to the Orange Orange out of habit that I realized I was surprised to find it open.

"Hey, AJ, want some Fruity Finale yogurt?" Sarah said, already serving a bowlful.

"What's in it?" I asked, leaning on the counter and looking at the rainbow colored concoction.

"A bit of everything," Beth remarked, making a face as she exited the freezer. "Nastiest thing we've served yet."

Sarah passed the bowl over with a spoon, and I took a bite. "That's actually pretty good."

Rolling her eyes, Beth came to sit next to me at my usual table, with Sarah locking the freezer before joining us.

"So what's really in there?" I asked. "The freezer, I mean. Is that how you get to your super secret spy base?"

At both of their surprised looks, I said, "What? I told you, I've been suspicious for a while. Besides, what could possibly be so interesting about a freezer full of yogurt?"

"Yes, alright, that's how you get to Castle," Beth admitted.

"I knew it! So am I allowed to know what's down there?"

Sarah and Beth shared a look, so I added hastily, "I mean I know you can't tell me everything, obviously, and I don't really want to know everything anyway. I'm just curious if it really is like in the movies—all cloak and dagger with loads of cool gadgets and such."

"It isn't," Beth said at the same time Sarah said, "It is."

I laughed. "Which is it then?"

"Well…why don't you decide for yourself?"

"What? You're serious?" I said to Sarah.

She nodded, so I turned to Beth, who was grinning. "Really?"

Laughing, she said, "Really. General Beckman, our boss, would likely disapprove, and it's probably best if you don't mention it to John, but as long as we're escorting you and you promise not to touch anything, I don't see what the problem is."

I gave them both a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is so cool; I can't believe you're actually letting me see where you've been disappearing to for the last year!"

"One condition: leave the rainbow vomit gunk."

Following them around the counter and into the freezer, I looked away as Sarah typed in a code for the combination lock, but looked back in time for the retinal scan. Chinita, that was cool.

With Sarah in front of me and Beth behind me, I climbed down the stairwell, looking all around. It was definitely bigger than I'd expected, with an array of computers and monitors and a large conference table making up the main room. I let out a low whistle. "Impressive."

Taking a seat at the table, I spun around in the chair a few times before saying, "I can see why you hang out down here so much."

"You've hardly seen anything yet," Beth said, motioning towards the back.

I jumped up, grinning, and followed after her and Sarah. They showed me around the armory and shooting range, the holding cells, locker rooms, and sparring area. Had to admit, it was an impressive setup.

Following Beth and Sarah's lead, I took a seat at the table again, before saying, "Y'know, a system like this one deserves the best equipment—you should think about upgrading to some of the new servers that are coming in next week. I'm sure Chuck could install them for you."

"Actually, we're going to be shutting Castle down soon after the wedding," Sarah said, looking a bit sad.

"What? Why? Moving to some fancy new base under the apartment complex or something?"

"Or somethin'," Beth said with a sigh. "The operation's over—we're all being reassigned."

"What? You mean you're _leaving_?"

They both nodded.

"But why, where are you going? If it's because Devon and I know, I swear, we're not planning on saying anything. Heck, I'm pretty sure Devon still thinks it was a dream or something…"

"AJ, it's not that," Beth was quick to reassure me.

Sarah added, "If we were worried you were a threat to security, then you'd already in a top secret bunker."

"Gee, thanks. If it's not that, then what?"

Beth shrugged. "The mission's over, that's just how it works. You stay as long as your needed, and then you're assigned a new mission."

"Well that's stupid. So, what, the four of you get shipped off to Minnesota or something and the rest of us never see you again or how does this work?"

"Actually, it's just three of us; Beth, Casey, and me. And we won't all be sent to the same place, or the same country even. But you're right about one thing; you likely won't see us again."

I didn't know what to say. Sure, I hadn't really come to Burbank planning to stay, but over the last few months Beth, Sarah, and even Casey had become my friends. And Morgan was leaving too, so that officially half of my friends were taking off. It was a lot to process.

"AJ? You alright?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just, I can't believe you're all leaving. I'm gonna miss you."

"We'll miss you too," Beth said with a smile. "After all, you were the Orange Orange's most loyal customer."

"Not to mention you definitely made Girls' Night at Ellie's interesting," Sarah said. Turning to Beth, she added, "Both of you."

"But what about Chuck?" I asked. "And Casey?"

"What about them?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Sarah Walker. You _know_ you're in love with Chuck, just as we both know Beth is in love with Casey. So what's going to happen when you all part ways?"

"AJ, Chuck's and my relationship, it isn't real. It was part of our cover, that's all."

I was about to protest, but Beth beat me to it. "No way. AJ's right, Sarah, what you and Chuck have—it's not fake."

"Even if that were true, not that I'm saying it is, there's nothing I can do about it," she said. "He's my asset and I'm his handler."

"Well not anymore," Beth pointed. "Actually, this'd probably be the best time to for you to do something about your feelings."

"Oh yeah, and what about you?" Sarah shot back.

"What about me?"

"Mission's over; you and Casey aren't partners anymore. It's the perfect time to make your move."

"She's got a point," I added, smirking. "You and Casey have been dancing around your feelings practically since you arrived in Burbank. Seems to me it's a now or never situation, for both of you gals to get your guys."

"Don't you think that applies to you as well?"

I glared at Sarah. "No, I don't."

"And why not?" Beth asked, "Morgan—"

"—is moving to Hawaii _with his girlfriend_. And despite any impressions I may have given you, I'm not a boyfriend stealer. Not that I'd want to steal Morgan anyway. Anyway…when do you leave?"

"Nice change of topic, don't think we didn't notice that," Beth said, but let that particular thread of conversation drop regardless. "As for when, I'm not sure. Soon."

"Not before the wedding though, right?"

"We'll definitely be here for the wedding," Sarah promised.

Beth added, "Of course, we couldn't disappoint Ellie."

"Good," I said. "So we'll get to have one more big adventure before you guys take off, Operation Bridesmaids."

"Shouldn't be too hard," Sarah commented. "All the preparations have been made, and our dresses have been altered so—"

"Y'all have already gotten your dresses altered?"

Sarah and I turned to Beth. "I'm guessing you haven't?"

"No! Holy hell—I need to get that done. Will you both come over to help me?"

"I'll have to switch my shifts around," I said, "but sure. Sarah?"

She nodded. "Not like there's much to do around here anyway."

"Great," Beth said, beaming. "Now, I'm guessing you need to stop by the Buy More?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh don't tell me…there's a secret passageway from here?"

"Several," Sarah said with a laugh. "Want to go in through the break room or the home theater?"

"Break room, who knows what all people are getting up to in the home theatre room."

Beth caught Sarah's eye but didn't say anything, making me think she knew _exactly_ what 'people' got up to in the theatre room and that I wouldn't like it at all. I followed them down the hall to the appropriate passageway and we stepped out in between the lockers. Well that was convenient.

I erased my name on the shift assignments and Jeff's, scribbled them in opposite slots so that I had a few hours before I was supposed to be working. At the girls' looks of disbelief I said, "What? He's here anyway, not like it'll matter. Let's go then."

* * *

Thanks for sticking with me through 20 chapters of Season 2; I hope you'll continue on with me onward through Season 3! As always, reviews are greatly appreciated. Much love, ~A.C.


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